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Academy Green
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Father
Vullinghs
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t. Ann's Academy
sits on a 61/4 acre piece of property, which
once surrounded the log home that became the pioneer schoolhouse in
1858. Through donations and purchases, the Sisters eventually acquired
22 lots. Much of the grounds, particularly on the west side, was wet
and rocky, but loads of fill were dumped from local construction sites
to build up the ground level, in the area of the Green and the Arboretum.
In 1911, Father Adrian Vullinghs,
a priest ill in St. Joseph's Hospital across the street from the Academy,
conceived a plan to create formal, landscaped grounds for St. Ann's
and suggested his designs to the gardener, Sister Mary Colette.
Born in
the Netherlands and educated in Belgium, Vullinghs was a priest by
vocation. His interest in the outdoors led to his design for the garden
of the Church of Our Lady of Assumption, in Saanich. He was present
with the workmen to share the expertise he had gained over 16 years
of working with the trees and shrubberies in his own garden.
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Sister
reading before tennis courts
1962
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"What was
the potato field has been terraced in four parts. The farthest from
the house is a favourite resting place for the pupils; the second
is a croquet lawn; the third is a tennis court and then comes the
grove, which is covered with crushed stone instead of grass."
(excerpt from early chronicles, Victoria Sisters of St. Ann, , as
quoted in 5 Year Plan)
These words of an observer from 1912 reveal the divisions of the Green
into areas intended for specific uses. Croquet fell out of fashion
in later years, but the grass tennis lawn was enjoyed by Sisters and
students alike. In 1928, courts were laid out for the game; they were
enlarged in 1933 to accommodate two sets of players and improved again
in 1959, eventually including fencing to keep the ball from flying
off into the bushes.
During
the spring, crocuses, in white and purple, and yellow daffodils would
bloom on the Green, and the girls would begin to ride their bicycles.
These bikes were stored, at least temporarily, in the simple bicycle
shelter that was erected at the south end of the green, in front of
the tennis terrace. Wooden slots were arranged around the perimeter
of the shelter, so the front tires could be held in place as the bicycles
parked in a circle. The Sisters would tend the blooms in the rose
arbour, a place of beauty and a stark contrast to the potato fields
that had grown before.
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Rose
Arbour
1961
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Not all of the
landscaping was as rustic as wildflowers and wooden shelters. The
formal gardens, including the Green, were based on features of Italian
and French landscaping. Dividing the grounds into distinct sections,
separating these spaces with bushes and shrubs and carefully spacing
the trees and flowers were all approaches used in the long tradition
of formal European gardens. The small structures, such as the bicycle
shed, that were constructed along the paths and the terraced lawns
were features used at the great French palace at Versailles, where
Louis the Sun King was himself in charge of the landscaping during
the 1600s. It is interesting that this would tie in so closely with
the French influences in the architecture of the Academy buildings.
This stylistic relationship changed: the sheds were demolished the
paths grew over, the Green terraces were converted and there was a
greater distinction between the Formal Garden spaces and the open
landscaping with the maturation of the trees.
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Bike
Shed
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As St. Joseph's
Hospital began to grow, parking was required for staff and visitors.
Cars began to park across the street, at St. Ann's, in the area where
the tennis courts had been. In 1972, St. Ann's Academy, attempting
to cope with the high costs of running a school without government
funding, and with a vast amount of property to tend, sold a large
portion of the grounds to the Provincial Government. The length of
the Green, where girls had once run and enjoyed their games, became
space for roughly 150 vehicles. The restoration efforts have recently
converted the Green into an open, grassy lawn.
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