1966 – The Science Wing, Administrative Wing/Meeting Place, and Humanities Wing
The Science Wing, Meeting Place, and Humanities Wing, which is known as the Andrews Building, is the original structure of Scarborough College. In fact, it was remarked that the Andrews Building is Scarborough College (source: Anonymous, “Award of Excellence: Dead Centre.” The Canadian Architect 43, no. 1, 1998). Construction began in 1964 with an expected completion in 1965 but a construction strike pushed the opening of the building to 1966. This building represented Phase One of Scarborough College, with the expectation that expansion would occur outward from the S and H Wings as the college grew (source: Decade Book).
The Andrews Building bears its name from the architect who designed the building, John Andrews.
There are mixed impressions of the building. The imposing structure and concrete of the Andrews Building has been described by some as intimidating and foreboding (source: Anonymous, “Scarborough College, Ontario: Architects: Page & Steele and John Andrews.” The Canadian Architect 11, no. 5, 1966). On the other hand, the building’s architecture is critically acclaimed, and was featured in the January 13, 1967 edition of the Canadian Time magazine, and world renowned, as remarked by principal Plumptre in his speech during the opening ceremony (source: “Historical Timeline” University of Toronto Scarborough About Us, accessed on February 24, 2022 at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/aboutus/historical-timeline).
“Need I tell you that this building is already world-famous? Accounts of it, pictures of it, have been appearing not only in the leading architectural journals of the world but in newspapers and magazines in many countries.”
— A.F.W. Plumptre, at the Opening of Scarborough College, 1966.
Student Experiences
In this photograph, students build snowmen outside of Scarborough College, dated to the late 1960s or early 1970s.
The Meeting Place served as a communal space, which held events such as dances, plays, movie showings, poetry readings, and special lectures (source: Decade Book).
- Convenience: As Pete Peroff remarked, “The fact that all our classes are in one building makes for a more leisurely pace during class changes and relieves us from having to tramp across a large campus in bad weather.” (source: Pete Peroff, “Dialogue,” in Marooned 2, no. 1, Christmas ’67).
- Accessibility: David Onley remarked that the accessible layout of Scarborough College provided “a seamless transition” from high school and “enabled me therefore to fully participate in the college life and the college community life.” (source: David Onley, 2015). In fact, he remarked that “it was easily the most accessible post-secondary facility in the province” in 1970 and continues to be a “remarkably accessible facility” now (source: Joshua Miller, “In Conversation with the Honourable David Onley,” The Varsity, 2014).
Page Bibliography
Anonymous. “Award of Excellence: Dead Centre.” The Canadian Architect 43, no. 12 (1998).
Anonymous. “Scarborough College, Ontario: Architects: Page & Steele and John Andrews.” The Canadian Architect 11, no. 5 (1966).
Bedakian, Shant. Interview with David Onley. Oral history conducted by Shant Bedakian, Scarborough Oral History Project, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, 2015. https://sohp.digital.utsc.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/nearbystudies:368.
Decade Book: 10 Years of Scarborough College. Toronto, 1975.
Miller, Joshua. “In Conversation with the Honourable David Onley,” The Varsity. October 27, 2014. Accessed at https://thevarsity.ca/2014/10/27/in-conversation-with-the-honourable-david-onley/.
No author listed. “Historical Timeline.” University of Toronto Scarborough About Us. Accessed on February 24, 2022 at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/aboutus/historical-timeline.
Peroff, Pete. “Dialogue.” In Marooned 2, no. 1, Christmas ‘67.
“Statement by Principal A.F.W. Plumptre at the Formal Opening of Scarborough College, University of Toronto.” UTSC Archives Legacy Collection, Principal Subseries, Principal A.F.W. Plumptre – Opening of Scarborough College File 1-4. CA UTSC 002-B-1-1-4.
Images
“Crosshatch” by Loozrboy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. This image is available at https://wordpress.org/openverse/image/a2384a8f-5ad2-4bf6-bbd9-05d07e98750b/.
University of Toronto Scarborough Library, Archives & Special Collections, UTSC Archives Legacy Collection, identifier: 2011002F1-5_05, by Ken Bell Photography Ltd. This image is available at https://collections.digital.utsc.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/utsc%3A2503.
University of Toronto Scarborough Library, Archives & Special Collections, A.F.W. Plumptre fonds, CA UTSC 009-1-5.
University of Toronto Scarborough Library, Archives & Special Collections, UTSC Archives Legacy Collection, Box 1 – File 6. This image is available at https://collections.digital.utsc.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/utsc%3A239.
University of Toronto Scarborough Library, Archives & Special Collections, UTSC Archives Legacy Collection, Box 4 – File 8. This image is available at https://collections.digital.utsc.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/utsc%3A562.
University of Toronto Scarborough Library, Archives & Special Collections, Greg Fitz fonds, CA UTSC 017-4-2.
- Academic Resource Centre – AC
- Arts and Administration Building – AA
- Bibliography
- Bladen Wing
- Environmental Science and Chemistry Building – EV
- Highland Hall – HL
- Instructional Centre – IC
- Introduction
- Leigha Lee Browne Theatre
- Library
- N’Sheemaehn Child Care Centre
- Residences
- Science Research Building – SY
- Social Sciences Building – MW
- Student Centre – SL
- SuperBuild – A New Phase of UTSC
- Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre – TPASC