Mount Allison Memorial Library

Mount Allison Memorial Library
152 Main Street, Sackville, N.B.
September 2011 
MOUNT ALLISON MEMORIAL LIBRARY
1927
The Mount Allison University Memorial Library was erected as a memorial to Mount Allison University students and alumni who lost their lives in the First World War and was opened on 8 June 1927. The greater part of the funds required were raised over a number of years by donations from the families and friends of those commemorated.The red sandstone Tudor Revival style building was designed by the noted architect Andrew Randall Cobb (1876-1943) who was also responsible for the Mount Allison Science Building (now the Flemington Building) opened in 1931, and the reconstruction of Centennial Hall in 1933-34, as well as a number of significant buildings throughout the Maritimes.

In 1960 the William Morley Tweedie Annex was added to the west side of the building to accomodate the greatly increased needs of the library which had grown to over 100,000 volumes. No attempt was made to match the style of the parent Memorial Library.

Following the opening of the Ralph Pickard Bell University Library in 1970 the Memorial Library and Annex were repurposed as a Student Centre.

The building originally housed brass plaques listing the names of those who made the supreme sacrifice in World War I. To these were later added plaques for World War II and for the Korean conflict. The plaques honouring the war dead are now located on a Memorial Wall in the Wallace McCain Student Centre.

Leroux, John and Thaddeus Holownia, A Vision in Wood & Stone: The Architecture of Mount Allison University, (Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press, 2016), pp.82-86 (Memorial Library), 132-135 (William Morley Tweedie Annex), 187-188 (Student Centre).

Memorial Library on Mount Allison University web site.

The Memorial Library and Annex/Student Centre was demolished by Mount Allison University in November/December 2011 to make way for the new Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts. Opened in the fall of 2014 the building provides facilities for both the fine and performing arts.

Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts
152 Main Street, Sackville, N.B. 

 


Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts 

 

The demolition of the Memorial Library was the occasion for extended debate and opposition. See the SMASH web site.

 

Leroux, John and Thaddeus Holownia, A Vision in Wood and Stone: The Architecture of Mount Allison University (Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press, 2016), pp.212-219.

The site of the former Memorial Library is now marked by a monument erected in 2016.
Levy, Carly, “Planning process under way for conversion of Mount A’s historic Memorial Library,” Sackville Tribune-Post, 21 July 2010, p.3.

Eaton, Robert, “Andrew Randall Cobb and the Mount Allison Memorial Library,” Sackville Tribune-Post, 18 August 2010.

Eaton, Robert, “Memorial Library serves as heart of Mount A campus,” Sackville Tribune-Post, 1 September 2010, p.22.

Tower, Katie, “Memorial Library will not be saved: University officials say costs to renovate, maintain building too high,” Sackville Tribune-Post, 20 October 2010, p.2.

“Mount A to proceed with new arts centre,” Sackville Tribune-Post, 24 August 2011, p.3.

“Changing Landscapes,” Sackville Tribune-Post, 14 December 2011.

NOTE: The above represents only a small selection of the extensive published material generated in the period leading up to the demolition of the Memorial Library.


Tantramar Heritage Trust | Historic Sites