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Campus Plans

Autumn golds and greens were the inspiration behind the choice of colours for the University. Green was for the abundant coniferous trees that contrasted with the changing gold of deciduous aspen and poplar trees of the North Saskatchewan River valley. As coloured symbols, green represents renewal, hope, and optimism; while gold represents harvest, sunshine, and the light of knowledge.

Under the energetic, visionary guidance of President Henry Marshall Tory, River Lot Five would be transformed into a thriving campus with students, staff, and beautifully designed buildings.

Part of the campus plan for River Lot Five was to have a functional division of the university lands. River Lot Five ran south; from the south edge of the North Saskatchewan River to what is now University Avenue, east to present-day 112 Street and west to present-day 116 Street. In addition to administrative, teaching, and residential building plans, there were plans for a provisional hospital and a university farm. In 1920, the farm was assigned to a large site south of Edmonton.

In 1910, after a few starts and stops to initial building plans and finances, Tory and the Board of Governors hired Percy Nobbs and Frank Darling, of the Montreal architectural firm Nobbs and Hyde, to design the campus and its buildings. Nobbs recommended that Cecil Scott Burgess oversee the construction, and, in 1913, Burgess was also appointed Professor of Architecture by Tory. Tory remained hands-on throughout the planning and the building of the University. Reg Lister, who served on a construction crew and later became the Superintendent of Residences, recalled in his memoir, My Forty-Five Years on the Campus, that

Dr. Tory used to drive around every day with his team of chestnuts, tie them up almost any place in the bush, and then inspect the work that was going on. He always wore a frock coat and striped trousers. He would often stop and chat with the workmen, and he was delighted to see a good bonfire; he told me it reminded him of his younger days in Nova Scotia when he used to gather drift wood and have a fire on the beach.