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The Storied History of Welland High
[Niagara This Week, 23 June 2011]
Courtesy of Welland Museum
Welland will be saying goodbye to the former Welland High School as a fire las weekend gutted the building: its history however will not be lost.
The History of the County of Welland published in 1887, described it as a structure “which stands in the midst of spacious grounds…of red brick trimmed with white, It is two stories in height, with a basement used as a caretaker’s residence. The building is well furnished, and is heated throughout by hot air from a huge furnace in the basement.”
An echo of what this original building looked like could still be seen before the fire in the large exterior staircase leading up to the second story at the corner of Main and Denistoun.
As Welland expanded, so did Welland High. More land was purchased in 1907 and construction of the new Welland High was completed in 1915.
Night classes and vocational training were begun in December 1916 with courses in home economics, dressmaking, woodworking and welding. More land was purchased between the school and the Welland River in 1926 and a new vocational and commercial department was added.
The grand opening of the expanded Welland High and Vocational School was held on Oct. 22, 1930.
In 1955, seven rooms and a new gymnasium were included in a $400,000 addition designed by architect Norman Kearns. That year there were 46 teachers staffing the school under Principal H.A. Snelling.
The baby boom generation of the 1960s brought about the need for another addition, this one on the West Main side. In 1968-69.
The school temporality became Westbrook Secondary in 1989, but the name reverted to Welland High in 1995.
Sadly the school was closed in 1998.