The day the Loretto Academy burned
Eighty-one years ago, Niagara Falls experienced one of the greatest fires in its history, when disaster struck at Loretto Academy on the evening of Jan. 10, 1938.
In 1861, The Canada House tavern was remodelled for the five Sisters of Loretto, who formed the first community. After selling some property to the railway in 1869, construction began on the stone structure now known as the north wing. Ten years later, the central and south wings were added and the original Canada House was moved back in the property.
The night of the fire was a typical one for Niagara, clear, cold and windy, with some snow on the ground. At 9 p.m., 65 children aged five to 17 and 40 nuns had just settled down in bed for the night. Thankfully, the fire was discovered early and everyone was safely evacuated. Neighbours arrived to lend helping hands. More than 170 boys and seminarians from the adjacent Mount Carmel College rescued some artwork and furniture to college’s gym. Shortly after, fire crews arrived from many local fire stations and even New York state.
The cause was never determined, but the fire was believed to have started in a laundry chute. The flames spread through the upper floors of the central and south wings, before high winds caused them to move down to the main and second floors. The convent was soon a blazing spectacle, visible for miles in the dark winter sky, drawing hundreds of onlookers to the fire site and causing one of the worst traffic jams in Niagara Falls history.
Damage totalled $650,000, quite a sum in 1938. Miraculously, the original north wing remained undamaged; and the walls in the central and south wings proved structurally sound enough to used in the rebuilding the same year. Although the top floor and its cupola were never rebuilt, restorations were amazingly completed in September 1938.
Sadly, Loretto Academy is no longer. Its boarding school closed in 1969, but it continued as the Loretto High School, a dayschool, until 1982. And then until 2005, the Loretto Christian Life Centre operated out of the building offering spiritual retreats to Grade 8 students and various groups.
Now owned by a hotel development company, I hope the original structure can be preserved for future generations.
To view more historic images of iconic local buildings, please visit our Historic Niagara Digital Collections website at www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex.
Cathy Roy is the information resources and connections librarian of local history for Niagara Falls Public Library