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Provincial Institute of Technology and Art
The Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) was a technical training post-secondary institution that operated in Calgary, Alberta between 1916 and 1960. It was the predecessor institution of both the Alberta University of the Arts and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
After the University of Alberta was awarded to Strathcona (now Edmonton) by the Government of Alberta in 1906, Calgary's political and commercial leaders began exploring ways of introducing a similar institution to their city. A short-lived private institution, Calgary College, opened in 1911, backed by local entrepreneurs including William Tregillus.
This, along with pressure from lobbyists, prompted the province to commission a report in October 1914, led by Robert Falconer, into whether Calgary College should be granted the power to confer degrees. In December, Falconer's panel concluded that a technical institute should be established in the City instead, in part due to the submissions of James Collins Miller (PhD), a school principal and technical education advocate. (Having been denied degree-granting powers, Calgary College folded in 1915.)
The Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) opened on October 16, 1916 with a mandate to meet the "educational needs of the industrial and commercial fields" in Alberta. The first publicly funded technical institute in North America, James Collins Miller was appointed at its first principal, overseeing a staff of seven teachers.
Until 1922, PITA operated out of temporary quarters in what is today the Colonel Walker School (K-6) in Inglewood. Initially, the institute offered full-time courses in auto mechanics and metalworking only, and part-time evening, weekend or correspondence classes in disciplines including mathematics and nursing. Recording a total of 370 students, its first full-time cohort consisted of eleven male students completing an eight-month auto mechanic program; some women also undertook this program on a part-time basis.
At the time of PITA's opening, the First World War was ongoing, with Canada having sent its first troops to Europe two years prior. Miller believed PITA should focus on retraining returning veterans. In 1917, the federal Military Hospitals Commission assumed control of its operations, pausing all civilian enrolments. Under Miller's leadership, PITA's veteran retraining activities were so successful that representatives of the United States government visited the facility to observe. Operations were briefly interrupted in October 1918, when Calgary recorded its first cases of the Spanish Flu. PITA was requisitioned by the Department of Health for one month to serve as a flu hospital.
In 1919, the provincial government, anticipating that PITA would soon accommodate civilian students again, began looking for a permanent location. More room was also required for the Calgary Normal School, a teacher-training institute that would eventually become the University of Calgary in 1966. The province decided to purchase 110 acres of farmland owned by the Riley family in North Hill for a sum of $63,000. In return for forgiveness on an additional $30,000 owed in back taxes, Thomas E. Riley donated additional land.
In November 1920, PITA opened again to students of all backgrounds, with a recorded enrolment of 28 full-time students, 103 evening students and 97 correspondence students. Electrical engineering, tractor engineering and motor mechanics proved the most popular with full-time and evening students alike; telegraphy also reportedly attracted a large share of evening students. PITA also began conducting outreach to prospective students based in rural Alberta.
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Provincial Institute of Technology and Art
The Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) was a technical training post-secondary institution that operated in Calgary, Alberta between 1916 and 1960. It was the predecessor institution of both the Alberta University of the Arts and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
After the University of Alberta was awarded to Strathcona (now Edmonton) by the Government of Alberta in 1906, Calgary's political and commercial leaders began exploring ways of introducing a similar institution to their city. A short-lived private institution, Calgary College, opened in 1911, backed by local entrepreneurs including William Tregillus.
This, along with pressure from lobbyists, prompted the province to commission a report in October 1914, led by Robert Falconer, into whether Calgary College should be granted the power to confer degrees. In December, Falconer's panel concluded that a technical institute should be established in the City instead, in part due to the submissions of James Collins Miller (PhD), a school principal and technical education advocate. (Having been denied degree-granting powers, Calgary College folded in 1915.)
The Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) opened on October 16, 1916 with a mandate to meet the "educational needs of the industrial and commercial fields" in Alberta. The first publicly funded technical institute in North America, James Collins Miller was appointed at its first principal, overseeing a staff of seven teachers.
Until 1922, PITA operated out of temporary quarters in what is today the Colonel Walker School (K-6) in Inglewood. Initially, the institute offered full-time courses in auto mechanics and metalworking only, and part-time evening, weekend or correspondence classes in disciplines including mathematics and nursing. Recording a total of 370 students, its first full-time cohort consisted of eleven male students completing an eight-month auto mechanic program; some women also undertook this program on a part-time basis.
At the time of PITA's opening, the First World War was ongoing, with Canada having sent its first troops to Europe two years prior. Miller believed PITA should focus on retraining returning veterans. In 1917, the federal Military Hospitals Commission assumed control of its operations, pausing all civilian enrolments. Under Miller's leadership, PITA's veteran retraining activities were so successful that representatives of the United States government visited the facility to observe. Operations were briefly interrupted in October 1918, when Calgary recorded its first cases of the Spanish Flu. PITA was requisitioned by the Department of Health for one month to serve as a flu hospital.
In 1919, the provincial government, anticipating that PITA would soon accommodate civilian students again, began looking for a permanent location. More room was also required for the Calgary Normal School, a teacher-training institute that would eventually become the University of Calgary in 1966. The province decided to purchase 110 acres of farmland owned by the Riley family in North Hill for a sum of $63,000. In return for forgiveness on an additional $30,000 owed in back taxes, Thomas E. Riley donated additional land.
In November 1920, PITA opened again to students of all backgrounds, with a recorded enrolment of 28 full-time students, 103 evening students and 97 correspondence students. Electrical engineering, tractor engineering and motor mechanics proved the most popular with full-time and evening students alike; telegraphy also reportedly attracted a large share of evening students. PITA also began conducting outreach to prospective students based in rural Alberta.