Early History of Brock

 

Figure 1: Two views of the Glenridge campus, c.1970. Top: main entrance, looking west across Glenridge Avenue towards the entrance. Bottom: the Chemistry/Physics Wing. Red Ford is Ramesh Shukla's, Burnt Orange Dodge Dart is John Black's.

Brock University opened on September 16, 1964, in the basement of St. Paul Street United Church located in downtown St. Catharines. The University had been scheduled to open in a renovated commercial refrigeration plant in September, but an electrician's strike delayed the renovation and opening of the building. Not until November 2 were classes first held in the Glenridge Building (or Glenridge Campus or Lower Campus, as it was called). It was located at the northwest corner of Glenridge Avenue and Lockhart Drive at the base of the escarpment. A total of 127 students were enrolled in classes in this first year. Brock's first president was James A. Gibson. More details about the early years of the University can be found in his "10-Year History - Brock University." James Gibson was followed in the presidency by Alan Earp, Terry White and David Atkinson.

On September 19,1966, the Brock Tower was ready for occupancy and some Departments moved from the lower campus "up the hill" to the DeCew Campus (or upper campus.) Over the next few years, various Departments moved up the hill, as buildings on the DeCew campus became available. Physical science students took special shuttle buses up the hill to classes and down the hill to the laboratories. In 1983, the last three departments - Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics - moved to their present locations on the DeCew Campus. By 1983, the Physics department had six full time physics department faculty members, whereas in 1966 Frans Koffyberg, in the Department of Chemistry, and John Black, appointed as a lecturer in physics, were the only two individuals offering physics courses. Physics offices were located on the second floor of B-Block and physics laboratories were located in H-Block, where they remain to this day. In the winter of 1984, the Glenridge Building was torn down and replaced with a housing sub-division. .