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 Paradise School - Paradise, NS Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 44° 52.184 W 065° 12.659
20T E 325346 N 4970857
Somewhat of an oddity, the Paradise School was built in the Second Empire style, rarely seen in small town schools.
Waymark Code: WMPGM8
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 08/29/2015
Views: 2
A very attractive building, Paradise School was built in 1894 by the brothers Ernest and Charles Balcom. It housed grades one through twelve and was designed to accommodate between eighty and one hundred students. School amalgamation was the likely cause of its closure in 1979. It was initially taken over by the Paradise Women’s Institute and later became a preschool/daycare centre. Judging by the paraphernalia surrounding the school, we would guess that it remains in that capacity today.
Paradise School
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Paradise School, built in 1894, is a two-storey wooden building set back from the road at the north side of the highway which runs east-west through Paradise, Nova Scotia. Both the building and the property are included in the municipal heritage designation.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Paradise School is valued as an impressive example of the Second Empire style in Paradise, NS.
Ernest and Charles Balcom, brothers, built this structure in 1894. The two-storey wooden building originally accommodated eighty to one hundred and five students, grades Primary through Twelve. The unique building conveys a dramatic presence and exhibits a classical setting, located some distance from the main road, adjacent to its semi-circular driveway. The Paradise School closed in 1979. The Paradise Women’s Institute took over ownership of the building and later the structure was to house a nursery school.
From the concave mansard roof down to the large double hung windows on the main storey and entrance door at the front right corner, the front elevation of this building conveys a stately appearance. Segmented dormers on the second storey each have paired round-headed windows. The tall, narrow French-style main storey windows have flat hoods. An unusual ornamental element is the decorative shingling halfway up the façade. There is a two-storey shed roof addition in the rear. The structure sits on a brick foundation.
The building is a valued testament to the integrity of the builders’ craftsmanship and to the community’s commitment to heritage preservation through the creative practice of adaptive reuse of the property.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
Character-defining elements of the Paradise School are associated with its Second Empire style and include:
-two-storey construction;
-wood-frame construction;
-concave mansard roof;
-double hung, tall, narrow French style windows with flat hoods;
-decorative shingling halfway up the façade;
-brick foundation;
-building is set back and strategically located in respect to its semi-circular driveway.
From Historic Places Canada
URL of Page from Heritage Register: [Web Link]
Address of site:
10307 Highway 1
Paradise, Nova Scotia
B0S 1R0
Site's Own URL: Not listed
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