Ursuline Academy (Great Falls, Montana) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Ursuline Academy
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Looking southwest at the north entrance of Ursuline Academy
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| Location | 2300 Central Avenue, Great Falls, Montana, U.S. |
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| Built | 1912 |
| Architect | George Shanley |
| Architectural style | Collegiate Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 91001447 |
| Added to NRHP | September 26, 1991 |
The Ursuline Academy is a historic building in Great Falls, Montana. It used to be a convent (a home for nuns) and a Catholic school. The building is located at 2300 Central Avenue. The Ursuline Sisters, a group of Catholic nuns, built it. The building was finished in 1912. It was first called the Ursuline Academy Boarding and Day School. It taught children from age five to 12.
In 1971, the building became known as the Ursuline Centre. Ursuline sisters still lived there. But they started renting out classrooms and kitchens. It became a place for groups to meet and for retreats. By 2012, only one Ursuline sister still lived at the site. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 26, 1991. This means it is a special historic place.
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Building the Ursuline Academy
In 1860, a group of priests called Jesuits started St. Peter's Mission in Montana. They moved the mission a few times. In 1884, the Bishop of Helena, Jean-Baptiste Brondel, asked the Ursuline nuns to join the Jesuits. He wanted them to help teach Native American children. Mother Amadeus (Sarah Therese Dunne) led five Ursuline nuns to St. Peter's in October 1884.
The nuns quickly opened a boarding school for girls. Both settler and Native American children could attend. The Jesuits gave the nuns a farm to help them. They also promised to pay them to teach boys. The Ursulines built a large stone building between 1882 and 1887. This building was their school and convent. The Ursulines believed in teaching music and art, along with reading, math, and science. They even built a three-story opera house at St. Peter's in 1896.
Moving to Great Falls
In 1908, the wooden Ursuline school at St. Peter's Mission burned down. The Ursulines decided to move their main activities to Great Falls, Montana. Great Falls was a newer town, founded in 1883. The Bishop of Great Falls, Mathias Clement Lenihan, strongly supported the sisters. The Great Falls Townsite Company offered them two city blocks for their new school. The Ursulines chose an area on a small hill. It had a good view and was away from the busy downtown.
Mother Francis Siebert was in charge of designing the new building. It was named Ursuline Academy. The city helped by closing some streets to create a large area for the school. A famous local architect, George H. Shanley, designed the building. He used a style called Collegiate Gothic Revival. Shanley gave some of his fee to the sisters. People in the community also gave money. The Anaconda Copper Company donated the bricks.
The first stone for the building was laid in September 1911. Construction began in October 1911. Horses were used to pull bricks and mortar up high for the workers. The school opened for students on September 3, 1912. The Ursuline Academy was built on the northwest side of the property. Its main entrance faced north. The eastern part of the property had large gardens.
The new building had some special rooms. The Green Parlor was for guests and special events. It had green rugs, furniture, and curtains. It also had an old French harp and a baby grand piano. The piano was a gift from a student's father. Another room was the Bishop's Parlor. This was a private suite for the bishop and important visitors. It had a sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom. The sitting room had dark oak furniture from St. Peter's Mission.
History of the Building
The Ursuline Academy first accepted only girls. When it opened, 40 girls lived there, 25 came for the day, and 30 took music lessons. In 1920, the Ursuline Sisters started Ursuline High School inside the same building. Many more students joined, so a separate gym was built in 1925. In 1927, the school started accepting boys. An annex was added to the gym for boys to live there. Boys and girls had separate classes and play areas.
Chapel and Art Studio
In 1927, the Ursuline Academy chapel was painted. The chapel was part of the original building from 1912. The pictures on the walls, called the Stations of the Cross, were made in the 1890s. The stand for reading, called a lectern, came from St. Peter's Mission. Three large paintings by Sister Raphael Schweda were added behind the altar in 1927. They show Saint Ursula, Saint Angela Merici (who started the Ursuline order), and angels. Some of the young women in the paintings look like former students. The chapel also has eight stained glass windows and statues of Joseph and Mary.
For 50 years, the room on the fifth floor of the tower was an art studio. Mother Raphael taught art there. Only art students could go to that room. She had to carry buckets of water up to the room every day. Mother Raphael also painted backdrops for plays and made special clothes for Catholic priests.
Changes and New Uses
During World War II, many nursing students from Columbus Hospital School of Nursing stayed at the Ursuline building. In 1950, Ursuline High School joined with two other Catholic high schools. They formed Great Falls Central High School. This new school opened on the Ursuline property. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ursuline Academy even had a candy store. One of the sisters made the sweets.
Over time, more modern Catholic schools opened in Great Falls. Fewer students came to Ursuline Academy. The elementary school closed in 1966. The high school closed in 1973. In 1975, the Great Falls Public Schools bought the building.
With the high school closing, Ursuline Academy stopped being a school. In 1971, it changed its name to Ursuline Centre. The Ursuline sisters still lived there, using it as a retirement home. But the building's purpose changed. The sisters started renting it out for meetings and retreats. The old dorm rooms became guest rooms. The school kitchens provided food. Part of the building was also rented out as a day care center.
In 1997, the Ursuline Centre Historical Foundation was created. This group helps manage the building and run the retreat. They also help the nuns keep the building in good shape. In 1998, they started raising money for repairs. By 2002, they had raised $1.3 million. They fixed the roof and replaced 501 windows. In 2006, they updated the electrical and plumbing systems.
In 2010, the Ursulines thought about selling the building to the Foundation. They offered it for $200,000. But the Foundation said no. Buying it would leave them with no money for repairs. The building still needed a lot of work, like fixing the outside and the fire system. This would cost about $1 million. The sale didn't happen, but the Ursulines agreed to offer it to the Foundation first if they ever sold it. The Ursuline Order also stopped giving money to the retreat. To help the center make more money, they thought about turning the nuns' old living areas into a retirement home for women. They also looked for more groups to use the retreat during the week.
By September 2012, when the building turned 100 years old, over $3 million had been spent on fixing and restoring it. The boiler and electrical system were replaced. Work on the outside of the building was continuing. The Ursulines and the Foundation kept talking about how to transfer ownership of the building to the nonprofit group.
About the Building
The Ursuline Academy is a four-story building with a five-story tower in the middle. It is made of stone and brick. The outside has special terra cotta decorations with geometric shapes. The main tower and sides have stepped parapets (parts of the wall that stick up). When it was first built, the academy had about 64,000 square feet of space inside. Eight gargoyles sit on top of the central tower. In 2012, the Great Falls Tribune newspaper said these were probably the only working gargoyles in Montana! The land around the building is now smaller than it used to be. This is because the high school and its football field were sold to the city in 1974.
Mother Raphael Schweda painted many of the religious pictures and symbols inside the building. The chapel still looks much like it did when it was finished in 1927. Mother Raphael's old art classroom on the fifth floor is now an art gallery. It shows many of her paintings, including portraits, religious art, and flowers.
The building's Amadeus Library is named after Mother Amadeus. It has a large collection of old books and musical instruments. It also keeps records for the Ursuline order in the Pacific Northwest.
The long hallway on the second floor is now called the Heritage Gallery. It has photos of graduating classes, pictures of nuns and students, and old diplomas. At the end of this hallway, in an old girls' dorm room, is the Heritage Museum. This museum tells the story of the Ursulines in Montana and at Ursuline Academy. It also has many Native American beadwork items and dresses. These were given to the Ursulines by tribes in Montana. The museum also has old clocks, chairs, and tables. Many of these were made by the sisters at St. Peter's Mission. A painting of St. Peter's Mission by artist Ralph DeCamp is also in the room.
Chimes that were part of the original building are still on the second floor. They could be heard throughout the building. Each sister had a different signal played on the chimes to call her to the main office. The chimes were also used to call the sisters to chapel and to signal the start and end of classes.
The Ursuline Academy's meeting and retreat center can host up to 100 people. They can stay in dorm rooms on the third and fourth floors. Different groups can use the facility at the same time. The center also has a kitchen and staff to prepare food. There is a 260-seat auditorium with a stage on the second floor. As of 2011, the Ursuline Academy also had a preschool and day-care center.
Other Buildings on the Site
In 1932, the Ursuline Sisters worked with the Sisters of Providence. They planned to open Great Falls Junior College for Women next to Ursuline Academy. This was a two-year college. The college building was started on the northeast side of the property. But money problems during the Great Depression meant the building was not finished for many years. To start classes, the college opened on September 8, 1932, inside the Ursuline Academy. The college was run by the diocese, not by the nuns. It started with 14 students.
In 1937, it became a college for both boys and girls. It was called Great Falls Junior College. By 1950, it had moved out of Ursuline Academy. It held classes in the Old Columbus Hospital building.
After some changes in the Ursuline order in 1958, the sisters decided they could no longer support the college. The Ursulines gave up control of the junior college in 1960. The Sisters of Providence moved it to its current location. It is now known as the University of Great Falls.
Images for kids
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Looking southwest at the north entrance of Ursuline Academy
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View of St. Peter's Mission between 1896 and 1908. The Ursuline stone convent and school is center-left.
