The Day of the Collapse

On Monday, March 19, 2007 at 10 a.m., the historic 1929 Grande Prairie High School that was home to the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (previously Prairie Art Gallery) suffered a collapse of the southern wing of the building. 

No one was injured and no artworks were significantly damaged. 

The building was constructed in 1929 and is one of the oldest brick buildings still standing in Grande Prairie. It was designated a historic site in 1984.

It was the quick thinking of the gallery’s executive director Robert Steven that helped the gallery avoid even further loss that day. 

Early that morning, Steven noticed cracked beams in the ceiling of the gallery’s southside exhibition space. 

He immediately notified staff - as well as the teachers of the pre-school class of 20 - not to enter the building. 

Steven moved the artwork on display in the south gallery room to the north side, then evacuated the site, even guarding the door to ensure no one entered. Once done, he called city staff to investigate.

They arrived to inspect the building, both inside and out. Shockingly, only moments after city workers left -  and staff looked on from the road - a third of the roof began to sag and the walls came crashing down.

Deputy fire Chief Harvey Pearson said, "They had left to take another look at it from a different point of view and, boom, it came down."

Nearby buildings were evacuated in the event of further collapse; gas and power to the site were cut off.

Only six months after moving with his family to Grande Prairie and starting his new position, Steven stood alongside his staff and community and watched as the historic building’s walls fell.

The aftermath

In the days following the collapse, there were discussions about safely securing the site and retrieving the art collection. 

The gallery sought advice from the Canadian Conservation Institute and connected with Tara Fraser, Senior Conservator of Paper and co-founder of Fraser Spafford Ricci Art & Archival Conservation. She arrived from Surrey, B.C. on March 22 to set up a recovery plan. 

Fraser’s extensive experience and knowledge in the conservation and preservation of fine art paper was critical in preserving the works onsite and later during restoration of damaged works.

Also during this time, engineers, city staff, and crews from local companies worked to remove the snow from the area and made plans to remove the 3,000 kg heating and ventilation unit to prevent further collapse to the structure.

On March 26 - one week after the collapse - artwork in the basement vault was removed by gallery staff and board members under the supervision of the Grande Prairie Fire Department.

All materials in the classrooms directly below the collapsed roof and in the upstairs gallery had to wait for removal of the debris from the surrounding building. They would not be removed until April 3. 

On March 28, a controlled demolition was carried out to safely remove the eastside wall of the south wing. 

It was debated whether the historic building would be restored.

Many concerned individuals in the community advocated for the preservation of the historical integrity of the collapsed Art Gallery of Grande Prairie and to continue the plan to integrate it into the architectural design of the new Montrose Cultural Centre (MCC).

The groundbreaking for the multimillion-dollar MCC was scheduled for that spring. 

After years of planning and fundraising, everything was in place to begin construction in May, only two months after the collapse. 

The project would attach the new home of the Grande Prairie Public Library and the expansion of the Gallery on 103 Ave., right next to where the collapse occurred.

Construction of the MCC moved forward, and gallery staff found temporary offices and collection storage in the Station 97 area downtown. Truckloads of gallery materials were stored in several areas across the city. 

The historic 1929 high school building was boarded up and sat empty while it’s future was unknown.

Restoration project

In an 8-1 vote in June 2007, city council recommended the building be demolished. But, because the building had heritage status, provincial approval was required.

In December 2008, the Minister of Cultural and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett sent the city a letter that supported the repair of the site.

The letter led to council’s decision to demolish it being revoked; city council unanimously voted on Dec. 15, 2008 to restore it. 

While MCC construction continued, plans began for the restoration of the historic high school, including working with architects on redesigning the interior of the gallery and how it would connect to MCC, securing the general contractor, and setting construction schedules.

In May 2009, the city received news of a $5.6 million grant for the gallery’s repairs from the federal and provincial governments through the Build Canada Fund. 

Construction began on the $6.7 million restoration by the fall of 2010.

Chandos Construction of Edmonton was the general contractor. Teeple Architects (Toronto) - who designed the MCC - were tasked to redesign the restoration.

In somewhat of a blessing in disguise, the redesign was an opportunity to provide the building with a new steel structure and transform the existing two levels into three. The original designs from 2007 essentially kept the interior of the high school building the same while connecting it to MCC. 

Restoration completed

Five years after the collapse, the gallery finally reopened in 2012, fully restored and fully integrated with the gallery spaces in MCC.

The new building offered a programming classroom, five additional exhibition spaces, a second vault to store the permanent collection as well as storage and workshop areas. 

The completion of the restored building allowed for the Green Space - a 2009 program that moved from gallery to gallery -  to find its permanent home on the second level of the gallery.

What happened to the collection?

Fortunately, only a small number of paper artworks incurred water damage following the collapse. With the help of Fraser, the artworks were fully repaired.

The gallery found temporary office space shortly after the collapse and remained there for two years. 

More than 300 works from the permanent collection - all rescued from the collapsed gallery on March 26, 2007 - were on view in open storage at the Gallery’s temporary location. 

The portion of the gallery’s collection that required hanging storage for its safe preservation was fully accessible to the community through the exhibition, Safe and Sound.

The collection had been rarely seen in recent years but became the object of international concern when it was trapped inside the frozen, collapsed gallery for a week in March 2007.

The full collection of over 800 pieces is currently located in two secure vaults within the gallery. Individual artworks continue to be regularly featured in exhibitions at the gallery and have also been loaned to other art institutions for display and have toured throughout Alberta.