Arthur Meighen School

Arthur Meighen School is located in St. Marys, Ontario. The institution was built in 1875 and began as "St Marys Collegiate Institute". Numerous additions were made to the original property over the years. The building is now 38,740 square feet in size and situated on 1.3 hectares of land which was assessed in 2011 at approximately $1.65 million dollars.

St. Marys Collegiate was closed in 1954 when a more modern building was built - St. Marys Collegiate and Vocational Institute. The old school was sold to the town for $1.

Due to overcrowding in the school system, it became apparent that more classrooms were needed. St. Marys Collegiate was renovated and in 1955 opened under the name "North Ward Public School" , a name it retained until 1984 when it was changed to reflect one of the school's former graduates - and Canada's 9th Prime Minister.

[u]20th Century [/u] According to a former teacher, there was a science experiment on alternative forms of energy. A student brought in a container filled with pig manure. The container was corked and under pressure. When the student removed the cork, manure sprayed across the chalk board and the student's face.

With declining enrollment and aging infrastructure, the school was closed in 2010. It was put up for sale in 2011 but failed to attract any buyers. In November of 2012 it was sold to parties interested in renting out the building to "green" related businesses. The costs to repair the building were found to be too costly and the building was put back on the market. In November of 2015, a numbered company purchased the school and is preparing it for demolition.

mobileworks adds: Arthur Meighen[1874-1960], a lawyer, is also buried in St. Mary's Cemetery and was the ninth Prime Minister of Canada serving two short terms one in 1920, one in 1926. He was the first Prime Minister to be born after Confederation.