Century-old Mississauga public school to be designated a heritage site
Published September 6, 2022 at 3:19 pm
A long-closed public school in southeast Mississauga that also served as shelter for evacuees during deadly Hurricane Hazel in 1954 will be named a heritage site just in time for its 100th anniversary next year.
Lakeview Park School, situated on the north side of Lakeshore Rd. E. just west of Dixie Rd. since its opening in 1923, has been given the green light for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA).
The City of Mississauga’s Heritage Advisory Committee gave its stamp of approval earlier today (Sept. 6), noting the two-storey, red brick school at 1239 Lakeshore Rd. E. must be recognized and preserved for its “design, physical and contextual value” within both Mississauga and the province.
Designed by architect Charles M. Hare, Lakeview Park School is a “landmark in the community” that offers significant historical value, City officials say.
“The heritage attributes of the property are related to the original 1923 building, although there are later additions that were added in the middle of the 20th century,” Mississauga’s commissioner of community services Jodi Robillos wrote in a report to the committee. “It merits designation under the Ontario Heritage Act due to its physical, design and contextual value.”
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Additions to the school came in 1954, in the wake of the historic Hurricane Hazel storm, and again in 1962.
Lakeview Park stopped serving elementary school students in 2001, but continued to serve as an alternative high school until closing for good in 2015.
Lakeview Park School was originally built “in a mixed architectural style of Georgian Revival blended with Edwardian and is in keeping with a rural-style schoolhouse promoted by the Province of Ontario in the early 20th century,” the report reads.
“As such, the school serves as a reminder to the pre-urban history of Lakeview.”
The school has remained intact throughout the decades and has “become a landmark in the Lakeview neighbourhood, and serves as an anchor for many residents who are former students of the school,” Robillos continued, in the report.
The property was first recognized as a priority for designation by the Heritage Advisory Committee in 2008 and again in 2019 when the committee received a deputation from the Lakeview Ratepayers Association requesting such a designation.
The report continues, noting that City staff “have reviewed the property, structures and documentation provided by the residents and have determined that the property meets two out of the three criteria for designation–physical and design value, and contextual value. The property has design value because it is a rare surviving example of Georgian Revival blended with Edwardians-style rural schoolhouse.”
A brass plaque situated above the entrance to the school contains both the school name and its pedigree as part of the old School Section No. 7. The original building date, 1923, appears on the bottom-right corner of the plaque.
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