This three-storey brick and stone building on the Fort Garry Campus of the University of Manitoba was designed by local architect Victor Horwood and built between 1911 and 1913 by Thomas Kelly and Sons. The building was designed to be completely fireproof and was furnished with the most modern apparatus of the era for teaching agricultural chemistry, soils, drainage, mathematics, and general physics, including electricity and magnetism.
The building was later used by the Department of Earth Sciences (Geology). The building was subsequently occupied by the Faculty of Fine Arts during which time it was renamed the Fitzgerald Building in commemoration of artist Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald. When the Faculty moved out in 2019, the name was removed and, as of 2021, the building was known by its street address, 55 Chancellors Circle, and was being used partly as a COVID-19 testing facility.
Chemistry and Physics Building (c1914)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 20 June 1914, page 29.
Chemistry and Physics Building (no date)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7447, Album 2, Page 31.
Earth Sciences Building (no date)
Source: Winnipeg Buildings Index
The former FitzGerald Building (January 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina
The former FitzGerald Building (April 2021)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.81004, W97.13438
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Hooper (1851-1911)
Memorable Manitobans: Victor William Horwood (1878-1939)
Manitoba Business: Kelly Brothers / Manitoba Construction Company / Kelly Brothers and Mitchell / Thomas Kelly and Sons
Memorable Manitobans: Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890-1956)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural College / University of Manitoba (Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg)
“Manitoba Agricultural College compares with best colleges of kind,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 June 1914, page 29.
The Manitoba Provincial Architect's Office (1904-1916) by Erin A. M. Booth, MA Thesis, University of Winnipeg, November 1994, footnote #228.
We thank Rose Kuzina and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 June 2024
Historic Sites of Manitoba
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