Library expansion named for BC builder
A leading figure in the commercial and industrial development of 20th-century British Columbia is being honored for his role in the establishment of University of Victoria.
William C. Mearns (1909–1998) was a founder of the university and instrumental in the assembly and purchase of the Gordon Head lands upon which the university was built.
Now, the University of Victoria has honoured Mearns with the newly named William C. Mearns Centre for Learning, a $20-million expansion of the existing McPherson Library. Fundraising for the new complex was completed in 2005 with a $5-million gift from the Mearns family. The provincial government matched the Mearns gift, and the university and other private donors provided the remaining funds.
“The Mearns gift is especially noteworthy in the history of this university and of Victoria,” says UVic President David Turpin. “This was a powerful statement by a Victoria family. It is a demonstration of their commitment to the quality and excellence of the University of Victoria’s learning environment.”
The new William C. Mearns Centre expands the ability of the UVic Libraries to meet the challenges of technological change. The centre will house the Bessie Brooks Winspear Media Commons integrating all formats of the library’s music, audio and video collection, a new special collections and archives space, and an expanded information commons that will form a single digital access point for all library resources. The expansion will also provide additional shelving, computer workstations, classrooms and collaborative study areas.
Mearns was a Victoria native who graduated from UVic’s predecessor, Victoria College, in 1927. He earned engineering degrees at Stanford University and the University of Washington and completed studies in advanced management at Harvard. He spent his entire career with BC Electric, which later became BC Hydro, rising through the ranks from meter man to executive director. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from UVic in 1991 in recognition of a lifetime of service and achievement.
