History of Oliver Lodge
Oliver Lodge is named after the late Dr. Edmund H. Oliver who was the first Principal of St. Andrew’s College and the fourth Moderator of the General Council of the United Church of Canada.
Communities with their own living and dining rooms are features of this new facility, transforming Oliver Lodge into a home for 139 residents. Areas of the original building no longer house residents but made way for the administration offices, office space for the Alzheimer Society, woodworking room, staff training room, multi-sensory room, greenhouse, and a new physiotherapy area. A new Community Day Program area was also developed.
This enabled Oliver Lodge to more easily provide optional services such as meals, and baths to tenants in Oliver Place.
A 70 unit, four story apartment for senior citizens.
On January 15, 1979 the Community Day Program was opened three days per week. Originally four participants per day attended. In 1981, it expanded to 5 days a week, accommodating 16 people per day.
This was basically a board and room situation with minimal care provided. In 1965, a 26-bed nursing wing was built. With the need for more heavy care beds in Saskatoon, an additional 37 beds were built in 1975.
The first meeting was held on May 2, 1951 and the first fundraising tea was organized and held September 26, 1951.
Oliver Lodge had its beginnings in 1949 when a group of women from Knox and Third Ave United Churches saw a need for housing for widows of war veterans and other older single women. Saskatoon Presbytery of the United Church of Canada agreed, and then rented an abandoned air force barracks at the present site of Saskatchewan Polytechnic on Idylwyld Drive (formerly SIAST Kelsey Institute). The original facility housed 18 residents. Volunteers completed a considerable amount of the work. In 1950 another barracks was rented and Oliver Lodge grew to include 68 residents.