About Mathews Public School

Mathews Public School cost $70,000 to build and was erected in 1929 by Diffin Construction and Supply Co. Ltd. Mr. Stanley Tufts was the general foreman. Thomas G. Harrison took care of the heating and plumbing while The Electric Service Company made the electrical installations. Mr. Norman G. Kearns was the architect. Acquiring the land took three years. Most of the land required for the building of the school was expropriated from the farm of Arthur Mitchell and arbitration hearings were needed to determine fair compensation for the land.

It was necessary to build Mathews Public School since both Maple Leaf School and Welland South School in School Section # 3 in Crowland Township were packed to the rafters and classes were being held in various premises that could accommodate them. Grade One students attended classes in a hall on Deere Street, Grade Two and Three students were educated in the Polish Hall on Ontario Road. Other children attended classes on Seventh Street at the abandoned movie house and more children attended school on Steel Street in a building which was known as Hartzig’s Place. Given these conditions, it is not surprising that the three-man school board determined that a new school was needed. The chairman H.A. Western, Board Member J.V. Merilovitch and Secretary Treasurer,L. M. Mathews must have been very happy to see the completion of this school late in 1929.

Overcrowding of Mathews Public School occurred once again and in 1953, an addition was made to the existing structure at a cost of $153,000. This new wing greatly increased the facilities in the school and included a gymnasium, kindergarten room, nurse’s room, kitchen and washroom. A second addition was made to the school in 1972. A beautiful library was added and the stairs which had joined the original school to the 1954 addition were removed and replaced with a hallway. This is the structure as it exists today.