Mysterious, mould-ridden school demolished

   The school at the corner of Oxford and Upper Lachine is no more.
   The nursing school moved out a couple of years ago after mould was supposedly found in the building. According to city tax records, the building at 2055 Oxford was built in 1957 but I can find no listing for it in subsequent years either on Oxford or Upper Lachine in the Lovells directory.
   It was built on farmland,  the extension of the Brodie farm now known as Oxford Park, which the family sold to the city in 1947 for $75,000.
   Local legend has it (ie: one loud-mouth- Chimples) that there was some sort of disharmony between the local anglo kids and the French speaking children who were made to feel unwelcome here and that led to its demise, although that seems like a bit of a ridiculous explanation, admittedly.
  One mention of it in Lovells lists it as an adult educational centre in 1970. It was apparently once double the size but the eastern half was demolished for the high-rise old age home that has sat adjacent to it since 1980.
   So, long story short, it was a flop.
   Nonetheless the local French school board is going to put a francophone elementary school on the same spot, so that should be uninteresting to watch.

Gilson to the left & other now-demolished skule

   Speaking of uninteresting, it should be noted that Gilson elementary, another long-forgotten school, long sat 1022 Harvard. Gilson was at that site from 1918 to at least 1947. A set of bland, unambitious duplexes have occupied the site since. No photographs appear to exist of the school online, although I'd love to see one. It was home to about 340 students, some of whom are surely still alive.
one block to the west at