Playground Courtyard

Gymnasium

number of students had bicycles, and there were some available for students to borrow. They were stored in an area under the gym, and many sunny weekend afternoons were spent fixing and polishing these bikes in the playground below the gym, so they could be taken for rides. Some students earned the trust of the Sisters, and would be given the key to the gym on Saturdays, to play badminton and take out the bicycles. The St. Louis boys were often invited for these afternoons (although the boys were chased away at other times, when they shouldn't have been on the grounds!)

View of the Courtyard today (click for large image)

A kitchen was located on the ground floor of the gym building, where the elementary school students were expected to eat their lunches in silence. Meals were formal, sombre occasions with the exception of hot dog days, held as a treat once or twice a month, when mothers would come to help the Sisters prepare lunch. The kitchen used gas stoves for cooking, and the fumes would often rise up to the gym, making the Physical Education classes held during the period before lunch warm and stuffy.

In 1958, The St. Ann's Centennial Annex was added to a small 1929 building across the street behind the Academy. This new building served the High School students; this structure became Victoria's Conservatory of Music after the Academy closed in 1973. The gym was one of the buildings, including the chapel and the auditorium, used by all the pupils, from kindergarten to graduation. The older girls would cross the street, known as Academy Close, with their gym strip of white shorts and shirts.

The gymnasium is no longer standing; this building was torn down before the restoration project began at St. Ann's. One of the only photographs of this part of St. Ann's Academy came from an appraisal of the Academy, for insurance purposes, in the 1940s.

The recreation time for the girls, especially for the boarding students, was usually short and tightly scheduled. At recess, the younger students from the primary school were free to run around the playground area, making up games and having fun. This area was mostly dirt and grass, and many rounds of dodgeball and volleyball were set up. A few fruit trees off to the side tempted the girls with shiny plums and pears in the warm season, and berries grew off to the side.

This play area extended around the corner of the auditorium building, into a section of the grounds which has now been designated for parking. The grounds were divided into sectors, many of which the younger children were forbidden to enter, so this playground, surrounded by the Academy's outbuildings, became their domain, until they were called to line up at the door by the auditorium, ready to begin classes. Now that the gymnasium has been torn down and the old schoolhouse has been moved to the Royal British Columbia Museum grounds, this space has become an open, grassy area, with benches for the office employees to enjoy their breaks, sitting in the sunshine.