VAN EGMOND, William Gysbert(1883-1949), son of William David and Jessie Van Egmond, was born at Egmondville near Seaforth, Ont. on 16 September 1883. He was the grandson of Col. Anthony William Van Egmond who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1819 and was a pioneer in the development of the Canada Company's Huron Tract in western Ontario. Although lacking a formal university education in architecture Van Egmond was a precocious and energetic student who began his architectural apprenticeship at the age of sixteen in Toronto with the firm of Gouinlock & Baker in 1899. He studied architecture through courses offered by the International Correspondence School and after working in New York City for two years he returned to Toronto in 1903 to continue his training under E. Beaumont Jarvis, with whom he remained until early 1905 when he entered the office of James A. Harvey to work as a draftsman. It was during this formative period that his skill as a delineator became evident, and many of his designs submitted in student competitions were given awards and published in the Canadian Architect & Builder. He was asked by Walter La Chance to become manager of his Regina office in early 1906, and by the end of that year he had severed his connection with that architect and formed a partnership with Edgar M. Storey of Regina in December 1906 (Morning Leader [Regina], 21 Dec. 1906, 10, advert.; C.A.B., xx, Jan 1907, x).
The firm was remarkably prolific and successful during the next six years, producing classically inspired designs for institutional, commercial, industrial and residential buildings in many Saskatchewan towns and cities (see list of works under Storey & Van Egmond). Edgar M. Storey died suddenly in August 1913 and his son Stanley E. Storey, who was completing his education in Boston, returned to Regina and worked with Van Egmond until late 1914 . After serving with Canadian Forces overseas during World War 1, Storey Jr. returned to Canada in December 1918 and resumed practise (Morning Leader [Regina], 27 Nov. 1918, 11). During his absence from Regina, Van Egmond designed all of the projects during this 4 year period, preparing his own presentation drawings and demonstrating his considerable ability as a designer working under his own name. In early 1919, Storey Jr. entered a formal partnership with Van Egmond in 1919, and their firm then dominated the profession of architecture in Saskatchewan for the next 30 years, and continued until 1949. More than 250 buildings designed by their office have now been documented (see lists of works under Edgar Storey (from 1907 to 1913), and under Stanley M. Storey (from 1913 to 1949). Their influence extended to Alberta in the west, to Ontario in the east, and as far south at North Dakota, USA.
Van Egmond was one of the founding members of the Regina Association of Architects in 1908 and the Saskatchewan Association of Architects in 1912. He served as President of the latter from 1913 to 1916 and was re-elected to that post in 1922. The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada nominated him as a Fellow in 1930, and he remained active in the profession until his death near Regina on October 9, 1949. A lengthy illustrated essay by him on the 'Public Buildings of Regina' appeared in the Toronto architectural journal called Construction, viii, Jan 1915, 13-22. His photographic portrait can be found in the Photography Collection of the Saskatchewan Archives Board, Regina, RA-3573a, and an extensive collection of architectural drawings from the office of Storey & Van Egmond covering the period from 1907 to 1949 has been donated to the Regina office of the Saskatchewan Archives Board by Alan Vanstone, Architect (obituary in the Regina Leader-Post, 11 Oct. 1949, 1, 5; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvi, Nov. 1949, 39; biography in Who's Who in Western Canada, 1911, 369; biography, portrait and list of works in Who's Who in Canada, 1923-24, 130; biog. in J. Hawkes, The Story of Saskatchewan and Its People, 1924, iii, 1795-96; Early Domestic Architecture in Regina, 1982, 35).
W.G. VAN EMOND (Works by William G. Van Egmond as sole designer, during the absence of Stan Storey from late 1914 to December 1918:
W.G. VAN EGMOND (Institutional works in Regina unless noted; from Jan. 1915 to Dec. 1918)
PENSE, SASK., Town Hall, Brunswick Street at Press Street, 1915; still standing in 2023 (dwgs. at SAB)
CHILDREN'S AID HOME, Winnipeg Street near 14th Avenue, 1917; and addition of new second floor, 1921 (Morning Leader [Regina], 29 May 1917, 10; and 26 June 1917, 10, detailed descrip.; and 19 Nov. 1917, 6, illlus. & detailed descrip.; and 31 May 1921, 17, t.c.; dwgs. at SAB)
ASSINIBOIA, SASK., Union Hospital, 1917 (Morning Leader [Regina], 20 April 1917, 11, descrip.)
SHAUNAVON, SASK., General Hospital, 2nd Street East, 1917; with addition, 1923 (Morning Leader [Regina], 14 July 1917, 15, illus. & detailed architectural descrip.; Shaunavon Standard, 19 July 1917, 1, illus. & descrip.)
FORT QU'APPELLE, SASK., several buildings at Fort San, overlooking Lake Echo, begun in 1915, but construction delayed until 1917, including:
Main Building, 1917 (Morning Leader [Regina], 11 May 1917, 10; and 14 May 1917, 11), and
four Cottage residences for doctors and staff, 1918; and
Infirmary with 60 beds, and Pavilion with 32 beds, and two Pavilions with 100 beds each, 1918 (Morning Leader [Regina], 9 March 1918, 17, descrip.; and 30 April 1918, 15, t.c.; C.R., xxxii, 13 March 1918, 42, t.c.), and
glass Greenhouse, poultry house, and piggery, 1918 (Morning Leader [Regina], 17 May 1918, 11, descrip.); and
extension to Administration Building, 1918 (Morning Leader [Regina], 28 Sept. 1918, 19, descrip.)
W.G. VAN EGMOND (Educational works in Regina unless noted; from Jan. 1915 to Dec. 1918)
ANEROID, SASK., public School, 1915 (dwgs. at SAB)
McAULEY, SASK., a 4 room public school, 1915 (Morning Leader [Regina], 2 Aug. 1915, 8, t.c.)
KAMSACK, SASK., a 2 storey public School, 1915; and large addition, 1921 (Morning Leader [Regina], 2 March 1916, 9, illlus. & detailed descrip.; and 19 March 1921, 13, dwgs. at SAB)
WOODROW, SASK. a one storey public school, 1916 (Morning Leader [Regina], 9 March 1916, 8, illus. & detailed descriip.)
MAYRONNE, SASK., public school, 1916; and large addition, 1921 (Morning Leader [Regina], 11 May 1916, 10, t.c.; and 19 March 1921, 13)
WEBB, SASK., public school, 1916 (Morning Leader [Regina], 26 May 1916, 9, t.c.)
LIPTON, SASK., public School, 1916-17 (Morning Leader [Regina], 18 Oct. 1916, 11, t.c.; C.R., xxx, 20 Dec. 1916, 41; inf. Scott Edwards)
OUTLOOK, SASK., Lutheran Norwegian College, addition of a new Boys Dormitory, 1917 (Morning Leader [Regina], 14 July 1917, 15)
DYSART DISTRICT, SASK., public School, 1917 (dwgs. at SAB)
LIMERICK, SASK., public school, 1917; and large addition, 1921 (Morning Leader [Regina], 24 March 1917, 27, t.c.; and 26 July 1920, 19, t.c; and 19 March 1921, 13)
DRINKWATER, SASK., a 4 room public school, 1917-18 (Morning Leader [Regina], 3 Aug. 1918, 17, descrip.)
OGEMA, SASK., public School, 1918 (Leader-Post [Regina], 21 June 1918, 10, descrip.; and 3 Aug. 1918, 17; C.R., xxxii, 14 Aug. 1918, 41; inf. Scott Edwards)
W.G. VAN EGMOND (Ecclesiastical works in Regina unless noted; from Jan. 1915 to Dec. 1918)
(with James E. Greene, of Birmingham, Alabama) GLENSIDE, SASK., Presbyterian Church, Main Street at Saskatchewan Avenue, modification of the plans originally prepared by the American architect James E. Greene, 1916 (C.R., xxx, 9 Aug. 1916, 44; M. Hryniuk & F. Korvemaker, Legacy of Worship: Sacred Places in Rural Saskatchewan, 2014, 100-03, illus. & descrip.; inf. Scott Edwards)
CONQUEST, SASK., Union Church, Bounty Street at Pacific Avenue, 1916; still standing in 2023 (Saskatoon Phoenix, 14 April 1916, 9, t.c.; Morning Leader [Regina], 5 May 1916, 3, illus. & descrip.; M. Hryniuk & F. Korvemaker, Legacy of Worship: Sacred Places in Rural Saskatchewan, 2014, 96-99, illus. & descrip.; Parks Canada, Canada's Historic Places, Designation statement 11 April 1985; dwgs. at SAB)
SEDLEY, SASK., Roman Catholic Church, new tower, transept and sanctuary, 1917 (dwgs. at SAB)
LANDIS, SASK., Roman Catholic Church, 1918 (dwgs. at SAB)
W.G. VAN EGMOND (Commercial works in Regina unless noted; from Jan. 1915 to Dec. 1918)
PRINCE ALBERT, SASK., a 2 storey Telephone Exchange Building, 1914 (Morning Leader [Regina], 19 March 1914, 19, t.c.; dwgs. at SAB)
BRANDON, MAN., conversion of the Palace Hotel for the new Allen Theatre, Eighth Street, 1917 (Brandon b.p. 2405, 26 Feb. 1917)
SWIFT CURRENT, SASK., Telephone Exchange Building, 1917-18 (Saskatoon Phoenix, 28 April 1917, 15, t.c.; The Sun [Swift Current], 15 Feb. 1918, 1, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. at SAB)
SELLER BLOCK, 6th Avenue at Albert Street, a 3 storey retail store and apartment block for W. Seller, 1917 (Morning Leader [Regina], 15 May 1917, 14, t.c.; and 30 May 1917, 9, detailed descrip.)
MOOSE JAW, SASK., Merchants Bank, Fairford Street East, east of Main Street North, a temporary bank and 2 retail stores facing Fairford Street East, and later replaced in 1920 by the permanent bank to the west, still standing in 2023 at the corner of Fairford Street East and Main Street North (Morning Leader [Regina], 20 April 1918, 27, t.c.; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina). The original architectural drawings for this temporary bank and two stores are now held in the Storey & Van Egmond Coll., SAB, RP1, File 130, Contract 367)
W.G. VAN EGMOND (Industrial works in Regina unless noted; from Jan. 1915 to Dec. 1918)
WHITMORE BROS., Hamilton Street, a garage, 1917 (Morning Leader [Regina], 31 March 1917, 27, t.c.)
W.G. VAN EGMOND (Residential works in Regina unless noted; from Jan. 1915 to Dec. 1918)
McINTYRE STREET, near College Avenue, for Louis A. Thornton, Commissioner of Regina, 1915; still standing in 2023 (Morning Leader [Regina], 2 July 1915, 8, t..c.)
GOVAN, SASK., for W.N. Armstrong, 1917 (C.R., xxxi, 4 April 1917, 65, t.c.)
SELLER BLOCK, 6th Avenue at Albert Street, a 3 storey apartment block and retail store for W. Seller, 1917 (Morning Leader [Regina], 15 May 1917, 14, t.c.; and 30 May 1917, 9, detailed descrip.)
Early Domestic Architecture in Regina, 1982, 61-3, illus.)
GARNET STREET, residence for Mrs. D. McClusker, 1917 (Morning Leader [Regina], 19 May 1917, 31, t.c.)
COMPETITIONS
'Public Library in a Small Town', Honourable Mention, 1904 (C.A.B., xvii, Feb. 1904, 26)
'Design for a Farm House', c. 1904, a design prepared while working in the office of Edgar B. Jarvis, Toronto (Early Domestic Architecture in Regina, 1982, 51, illus.)
'A House in a Country Town', 1905, First Prize (C.A.B., xviii, Feb. 1905, 23, illus. & descrip.)
'A Six Roomed Cottage', 1906, Second Prize (C.A.B., xix, March 1906, 36, illus. & descrip.)
'A Village Cross' (a civic monument), 1906, First Mention (C.A.B., xix, March 1906, 37, illus. & descrip.)
REGINA, SASK., WW1 War Memorial Cenotaph, Victoria Park, 1926. Van Egmond was one of 51 architects and artists who submitted a design in this national competition (Morning Leader [Regina], 9 Feb. 1926, 1, full list of competitors). The winner was Robert G. Heughan of Montreal.