Feature Article
TRAINING SCHOOL FOR MENTALLY DISABLED KIDS OPENS: 1923
Written By: Michael Dawe
Published By: Red Deer Advocate Centennial Book
Article Used with permission. © Copyright Michael Dawe and the Red Deer Advocate, 2007
2007-01-01
 officially opened with 50 patients in a building originally created two decades earlier as a women\'s college. During its first year of operation, PTS admitted another 58 children and young adults.','Training school for mentally disabled kids opens', 'Photo Courtesy of: © Copyright Red Deer Archives,<br /> Photographer: Unknown'); "Training school for mentally disabled kids opens")
In 1912-13, the Presbyterian Church built a magnificent four storey brick college on the brow of the East Hill, overlooking the City of Red Deer.
The Alberta Ladies College was designed to give "girls in Western Canada and especially girls in rural areas, the opportunity of receiving an education under Christian auspices."
While it was a Presbyterian Church project, the college was open to young women of all denominations.
Unfortunately, right from the start, there were not the financial resources to fulfill the grand dream of providing a high-quality education for young rural women.
Construction proceeded very slowly. Securing adequate operational funds was always a challenge.
The funding situation turned critical with the outbreak of the First World War.
Donations to the college plunged. Ironically, at the same time, there was more interest in enrolling in the college, particularly from young women whose fathers had gone overseas to serve in the war.
Nevertheless, the situation soon became untenable. The college had a sizable deficit and $63,500 in unpaid subscriptions.
Finally, in the spring of 1916, the college building was sold to the provincial government for $125,000.
The college students were relocated to Edmonton where the school was renamed Westminster College and reopened in the old Strathcona Hotel.
Initially, the provincial government planned to use the college as an institution for the care of mentally handicapped children.
However, a more urgent need arose.
Many soldiers from the battlefields of Europe were returning home with injuries to their minds as well as to their bodies.
The government needed to quickly establish an institution for the care of these ’shell-shocked" veterans.
In the summer of 1917, $10,000 in renovations were completed. In the fall, the new Soldiers' Sanatorium began admitting patients.
Because of the frail health of many of these veterans, the mortality rate at the new hospital was very high.
In 1923, the provincial government decided to turn the newly constructed Home and Training School for Mental Defectives at Oliver, near Edmonton, into a psychiatric hospital instead.
The remaining 47 veterans in the Soldiers Sanatorium in Red Deer were moved to the Oliver Hospital.
The idea of using the old college building in Red Deer as an institution for mentally handicapped children was revived.
The facility which had been operating in south Edmonton was closed, and the 50 children who had been living there were transferred to Red Deer in the fall of 1923.
In October 1923, the new Provincial Training School (PTS) officially opened.
During its first year of operation, the PTS admitted another 58 children and young adults.
They were provided with academic, vocational and personal development training.
Initially, admittance was arranged by a family physician or an official with the provincial government.
However, as time went on, families were allowed to make direct application for admission on behalf of a family member.
The bulk of funding for the PTS came from the provincial government.
There was also a charge on the residents and/or their families of 99 cents per day to cover food and lodging expenses.
Municipalities were also expected to make payments on behalf of the PTS residents who had originally lived in their communities.
By the late 1920s, there was a waiting list of more than 700 for admission to the institution.
An addition was made to the college building in 1928 and additional buildings were constructed starting in 1930.
There were many other changes over the years.
In 1955, a new institution for the care of adults, named Deerhome, was constructed north of the PTS.
In 1965, the PTS was renamed Alberta School Hospital (ASH).
Following the release of the Blair Report in 1969, there was a major overhaul and reconstruction of the two institutions in the early 1970s.
ASH and Deerhome were amalgamated in 1973 and renamed Michener Centre in 1977 in honour of Governor General Roland Michener.
Since its beginnings in 1923, Michener Centre has been home for several thousand Albertans.
Moreover, it has been a major employer in Red Deer.
At one point in the 1960s, it was estimated that almost one-fifth of the residents of Red Deer either lived or worked at ASH/Deerhome.
While the institution is now much smaller than it was 30 years ago, it remains a very significant part of the city of Red Deer and of Central Alberta.
This article was written by Michael Dawe for the Red Deer Advocate’s Centennial Book. The Heritage Community Foundation would like to thank Michael Dawe and the Red Deer Advocate for permission to reprint these materials online. Please visit the Red Deer Advocate online.The images in the article are part of the collection of the Red Deer Archives. Please visit them online.