BLACKWOOD, Robert (1877-1941) was active in Saskatoon, Sask. from 1911 until 1920 where he held the position of Building Commissioner of the Saskatoon Public School Board. Born in Greenock, Scotland in March 1877, he was brought to Canada by his family at age 11 years, and his family settled in Maitland, Ontario in 1888. He later grew up in Winnipeg and gained extensive experience in building and construction while working in the Winnipeg office of James Stewart & Co. (Chicago), Contractors & Engineers (see the Winnipeg City Diectory, 1906, 325, listing for Blackwood, Robert). He held the position of foreman millwright, overseeing major industrial projects in western Canada including grain elevators, warehouses, depots and bridges.
Blackwood moved to Saskatoon, Sask. in the spring of 1908, and in 1910 he was hired as the permanent building commissioner for the Saskatoon Public School Board, a position which included responsibilities to supervise and oversee new public school construction in the city, as well as to design several school buildings. In 1912 he became one of the founding members of the Saskatchewan Association of Architects. His works include a thoughtfully composed but eclectically styled design for Mayfair Public School (1919). He remained in Saskatoon until after 1922, but by 1926 he had moved to the United States and had taken up residence in Flint, Michigan where he listed himself as an "architectural superintendent in the construction industry". Blackwood died in Flint, Mich. on 19 December 1941 (obituary and port Star-Phoenix [Saskatoon], 20 Dec. 1941, 2; biog. and port. Saskatoon Daily Star, 15 Sept. 1917, 9).
SASKATOON, SASK., Buena Vista Public School, Lorne Avenue at 6th Street, 1913-14 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 17 Jan. 1913, 17, descrip.; and 15 Sept. 1917, 9, which states that "Buena Vista school was entirely planned and supervised by Mr. Blackwood")
SASKATOON, SASK., Mayfair Public School, 34th Street West at Avenue E North, 1919 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 7 June 1919, 3, descrip.; 23 June 1919, 7, descrip.; C.R., xxxiii, 9 July 1919, 41, t.c.)
SASKATOON, SASK., Victoria Public School, two large additions, on both sides of the existing building, 1919 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 23 June 1919, 7)