The University of Windsor's new School of Creative Arts is being hailed as a bridge between students and Windsor's colourful past.
The school formally dedicated Thursday its new SoCA, occupying two landmarks of Windsor history. The first is the former Armouries, where servicemen trained for over a century, and the other is the former Tunnel Bar-B-Q restaurant.
The building had been holding classes since the semester began in January, but two official ribbon-cuttings were held Thursday. U of W President Dr. Alan Wildeman hailed the new SoCA as a "crowning achievement".
"We have a new home for this school, where music and film and visual arts, and the relationship between the visual arts and the built environment can be studied and pursued," said Wildeman.
The first ribbon-cutting took place at the Freedom Way building, where 20,000 sq ft of arts space is ready. The second ribbon-cutting was at the Armouries itself, a 66,000 sq ft facility which now houses U of W's music, visual arts, media arts and film programs.
Two members of the Racovitis family, which owned Tunnel Bar-B-Q, helped cut one of the ribbons.
Mayor Drew Dilkens says the new building is the ideal way to show off Windsor-Essex to those entering the country at the nearby border crossing.
"It stands here, shiny, new and full of promise, steps away from the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Plaza," says Dilkens. "It will be one of the first sites to greet visitors to our city and our country."
U of W's music students are now able to rehearse in state-of-the-art rehearsal suites, while visual arts classrooms and labs are now worked into the original Armouries building. Following the dedication, tours were conducted. Classes continued in labs separated by picture windows while members of the University of Windsor Singers performed.
The original Armouries was built in 1900 and had been used as a training facility for service personnel. Lieutenant Colonel John Hodgins, the commanding officer of the Essex and Kent Scottish, said the building had countless stories and still has a place in the hearts of those who trained there.
"We lived here for over a hundred years," said Hodgins. "It is home to a lot of us. There's several prior commanding officers here who made this home."
Almost all of the Armouries' original brickwork was repointed, according to a release from the university. 12,000 bricks from a 1935 expansion on Park St. were removed, cleaned and reinstalled in the new SoCA recital hall. New windows were custom-made and the original oak doors have been repurposed, now permanently open within the building.
The Armouries project is part of the university's foothold into the downtown core. U of W's School of Social Work is now in the former Windsor Star building, though a plan to move the law school into the Paul Martin Building fell through.
U of W also owns the former bus depot across University Ave. E from the Armouries. That will be transformed into the new headquarters of the school's film production program.
