Aerial view showing construction of the Physics addition, with a partial view of the Bowl and Administration Building.

Aerial view of the Medical College under construction; St. Andrew's College and Observatory in background.

Bio/Historical Note: A medical college was part of President Walter Murray’s design for the new University of Saskatchewan, and was consistent with his view that the university should serve the needs of the province. In 1926 a School of Medical Sciences was established, which provided the first two years of medical training. Between 1928 and 1954, 605 students completed the course and then went elsewhere in Canada for the clinical years. In 1944, a survey of the health needs of the province (Sigerist Report) recommended that the School be expanded to a “complete Grade A Medical School” and that a University Hospital of 500 beds be constructed for scientific teaching, clinical instruction, and research. A medical building was completed in 1950, a four-year degree-granting College was inaugurated in 1953, and University Hospital opened in 1955. The College admits sixty medical students per year, supervises the training of 200 residents, and provides basic science training to 330 students in Arts/Science. The aim of the program is to produce a “basic” or undifferentiated doctor capable, with further training, of becoming a family practitioner, specialist or research scientist. Between 1953 and 2003, the College of Medicine has graduated 2,134 MDs, of whom 30.5% were women.

Looking northwest across the Bowl at the Geology Building under construction.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

Image of excavation for foundation of the Geology Building. Chemistry (Thorvaldson) Building at left.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

Construction nearing completion of the Geology Building; winter scene.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

Looking southwest at Engineering Building shortly after completion. Power house at left; cars parked in front. North addition nearing completion.

Bio/historical note: The original Engineering Building was destroyed by fire on Friday, 13 March 1925.