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A vacant one-storey building at Mariapolis, in the Municipality of Lorne, was designed by Winnipeg architect Étienne-Joseph Gaboury and constructed in 1962 for the Mountain School Division. It was intended as a high school for students from Mariapolis, St. Alphonse, Bruxelles, Swan Lake, Greenway, and surrounding rural areas. Known as Mariapolis Collegiate, it had four classrooms, a library, science laboratory, and double-sized multi-purpose room. The school operated until 1967 when its 65 to 75 students were bused to high schools built on the same plan at Somerset and Notre Dame. High school education in the west end of the Mountain School Division was consolidated in a facility known as Westmount High School in the convent at Bruxelles. With the construction of a school building at Swan Lake, students were transferred there.
The former Mariapolis Collegiate building was used for two years for special education classes before these students were transferred to Somerset. In 1974, it was sold to Central Sportswear of Winnipeg and used for five years as a clothing factory. Purchased by the Swan Lake First Nation in 1980, and named Indian Springs School, it was used for students in grades one to eight, as well as nursery-school and kindergarten. It operated into the early 1990s then, when a school was built on the Reserve, this building was closed.
Period
Principal
1962-1967
Apolline “Victorine” Hutlet (1921-2007)
The teachers of Mariapolis Collegiate (1962-1967) were Jean Charles Poirier, Marie Clara Tetreault, Germaine De Pape, Sister Patricia, Pierre Nadon, Mary De Pape, Denis A. Fontaine, M. Gilles Avanthay, and Maria De Pape.
The former Mariapolis Collegiate, later the Indian Springs School (October 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Entrance to the former Mariapolis Collegiate, later the Indian Springs School (October 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Aerial view of the former Mariapolis Collegiate, later the Indian Springs School (May 2019)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Location (lat/long): N49.35810, W98.98682
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Étienne-Joseph “Steve” Gaboury (1930-2022)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mariapolis School No. 830 (Mariapolis, Municipality of Lorne)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ste. Marie Convent and School / Ste. Marie Park Monument (Bruxelles, Municipality of Lorne)
“Tenders invited,” Winnipeg Tribune, 7 August 1961, page 14.
“School could become clothing plant,” Brandon Sun, 19 February 1974, page 9.
Echoes of Our Heritage: Mariapolis and District, 1891-1991 by Mariapolis Centennial History Book Committee, 1991, pages 132-136, 141.
“Teachers wanted,” Brandon Sun, 7 December 1990, page 17.
Obituary [Apolline Hutlet], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 2007.
We thank Edna Desrochers for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 15 October 2022
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