page_title: Lisgar Collegiate Institute
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lisgar Collegiate Institute / History
caption_attribution_description: Pic of Lisgar C.I, Ottawa, Ont, June 2003; photographer Thorfinn Stainforth; en:Category:Designated heritage properties in Ottawa
context_page_description: Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  Lisgar Collegiate Institute is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal and is only a few blocks away from Canada's Parliament Hill. Lisgar was ranked 24th among all secondary schools in Ontario and 1st in Ottawa by the Fraser Institute in 2017/18. The school serves the neighbourhoods of Sandy Hill, New Edinburgh, Centretown, and Rockcliffe Park, and has many students transferring from other areas, attracted by the school's reputation and prestige. In previous years, parents and students have camped out overnight to secure a "coveted transfer spot" to Lisgar, causing some controversy in the news. Lisgar is known for its gifted student program, and was ranked number one for public schools in Ottawa and 4th in the province by the Fraser Institute in 2016. Its Reach for the Top team won the Canadian national finals in the 2008, 2015 and 2017 seasons.
context_section_description: In 1843, a grammar school with 40 paying students was opened in the Sandy Hill area of Ottawa in a house at the corner of Waller Street and Daly Avenue. In 1859, the school became one of the first in Ontario to admit girls. The school changed locations several times in the first few years, and was renamed first Bytown Grammar School and later Ottawa Grammar School. In 1871 the school was raised to a high school and in 1873 to a collegiate institute, becoming Ottawa Collegiate Institute.
  The school found a permanent home in 1873 when a lot at what was then the southern edge of the city was purchased. The school board acquired the land on Biddy Street for $3,200 and paid a squatter $100 to give up any claims on the land. Biddy Street was renamed Lisgar Street in 1880 after Lord Lisgar, an Irishman who served as Canada's second Governor-General. A Gothic Revival style structure, designed by W.T. Thomas and W. Chesterton, was built at a cost of $26,000. Governor General Lord Dufferin (another Irishman) laid the cornerstone and the school opened in 1874.
  In 1892, the school became the first public secondary school in Ontario to hire a female teacher. Four new classrooms were added on the south side in 1892, moving the front wall towards the street and enclosing the front entrance stairs.
  A fire in 1893 caused the school to be temporarily closed. Lisgar was one of a limited number of buildings to survive the Great Ottawa fire. There have been a total of 23 fires at the school, including three major ones: 1893, 1915, and 1942.
  In 1903, the east wing was built with eight new classrooms. In 1908, Ottawa architect Edgar Lewis Horwood added a west wing with laboratories, an auditorium, and the main tower. The auditorium balcony is suspended by iron rods which lead to huge beams above the ceiling.
  A rifle range for the cadet corps, in the now blocked-off fifth-floor attic, was added in 1912. Students practised shooting there until after World War II when shooting moved to the nearby Cartier Square Drill Hall.
  A basement cafeteria was added in 1923. After the school was split in 1922 to form Glebe Collegiate Institute, OCI was renamed Ottawa Lisgar Street Collegiate Institute, which was soon shortened to Lisgar Collegiate Institute. Officially, the school remained OCI for several decades. Since the split, Glebe and Lisgar have been traditional rivals.
  In 1951, a new gymnasium was built across the street with a tunnel connecting it to the main building. The tunnel was not open for the use of students for many years, but it was re-opened in October 2015. The new building was enlarged in 1962. The old gym was turned into what is now the cafeteria. The old building and the newer building are now referred to as the North and South buildings, respectively.
  In 1953, the current, near-vertical roof was installed over the previous sloping roof. This was done to reduce the build-up of winter ice. The old roof is still there and there is an odd-shaped attic space between them.
  In 1957, Lisgar was the first school in Ontario to introduce a special program for gifted students.
  In the 1970s, a cash-strapped Ottawa Board of Education decided to close the school and sell its valuable downtown real estate. This action was blocked by community members and alumni, and the school was completely renovated instead. This renovation included a small westward extension to the auditorium to add fire exits which replaced external fire exits on the north side of the auditorium. To meet fire code requirements, the existing west staircase was moved from the stair tower westward to just beside the entrance to the auditorium. The result is that now many windows on the north wall do not line up as intended. The windows in the stair tower had been placed a half-way between floors to align with the landings. These windows now lead into classrooms and floor-aligned windows lead into the stairway.
  In 1996, the third floor of the North building was completely renovated and the science labs were modernized. In March 2003, parts of the first and second floors and the basem
caption: View of Lisgar Collegiate from the Mall, the area between the North and South buildings
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