GREGOIRE, J. Wilfred (1880-1955) was active in Sherbrooke and in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec for nearly fifty years. Born in St. Sylvestre, Que. on 8 February 1880 he was educated at Levis College and articled with Joseph Verret, a leading ecclesiastical architect who was active in Sherbrooke. The untimely death of Verret in December 1902 made Gregoire the logical successor to the practice, and he capably handled a number of commissions in and around Sherbrooke before joining Louis N. Audet in a partnership in 1907. Their collaboration in Sherbrooke was a brief one, and by 1910 Gregoire was once again practicing under his own name, designing churches, schools, and hospital buildings for the Roman Catholic dioceses in the region, as well as important public buildings including the Sherbrooke City Hall (1921-22) and the federal Post Office (1950).
He was among the first architects of western Quebec to use advanced reinforced concrete construction methods in his commissions. He made effective use of this building technique at the Hospice de Sacre Coeur (1921), a substantial landmark clad in brick with an admirable Tudor Revival entrance facade flanked by bleak and repetitive wings housing the hospital wards for 700 patients. His designs were often competent and, at times, stylish, but his success as a designer was frequently overshadowed by his local rival Louis N. Audet, a brilliant architect and master Gothicist, to whom many major commissions were awarded, including that for St. Michael's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Sherbrooke (1916). Gregoire died in Sherbrooke on 29 April 1955 (obituary and list of works in La Tribune [Sherbrooke], 30 April 1955, 3 and 2; obit. Sherbrooke Daily Record, 30 April 1955, 3; biog. and port in Les Biographies Francaises d'Amerique, 1950, 813)
J.W. GREGOIRE (works in Sherbrooke unless noted)
SHERBROOKE, QUE., Roman Catholic Convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame, Couvent Street, 1903 (C.R., xiii, 14 Jan. 1903, 2)
WOTTON, QUE., St. Hippolyte Roman Catholic Church, 1903 (C.R., xiii, 14 Jan. 1903, 2)
COOKSHIRE, QUE., St. Camille Roman Catholic Church, 1904-05 (list of works in obituary, La Tribune [Sherbrooke], 30 April 1955, 3 and 2)
ARTHABASKA, QUE., Town Hall, 1904 (Parks Canada, Town Halls of Canada, 1987, 270)
BROMPTONVILLE, QUE., St. Francois Xavier Roman Catholic Church, 1904-05 (La Presse [Montreal], 25 Oct. 1905, 14, descrip.; 26 Oct. 1905, 1, illus.)
LA PATRIE, QUE., St. Pierre Roman Catholic Church, 1907 (list of works in obituary, La Tribune [Sherbrooke], 30 April 1955, 3 and 2)
(with R. A. Brassard) SHERBROOKE, QUE., St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, Conseil Street, 1907-08 (La Presse [Montreal], 8 Feb. 1908, 25, illus. & descrip.)
GREGOIRE & AUDET (works in Sherbrooke unless noted)
NORTH HATLEY, QUE., Ste. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 13 Jan.1909, 20; La Presse [Montreal], 22 May 1909, 17, descrip.)
SHERBROOKE, QUE., retail store for H.C. Wilson & Sons, Wellington Street North, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 20 Jan. 1909, 21)
J.W. GREGOIRE (works in Sherbrooke)
ST. CHARLES BORROMEE ROMAN CATHOLIC SEMINARY, major additions, Marquette Street, 1910-11; 1924, 1927; boiler house for the Seminary 1911-12 (C.R., xxiv, 7 Dec. 1910, 38; xxv, 8 Nov. 1911, 57; xxxviii, 26 March 1924, 49; xli, 1 June 1927, 49)
ACADEMIE LAROCQUE, a Roman Catholic school for the South Ward, LaRoque Street, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 23 Aug. 1911, 60; xxvi, 20 March 1912, 67)
P.T. LEGARE & SONS, Wellington Street South, retail store, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 14 June 1911, 61)
CODERE & SONS HARDWARE CO., Wellington Street North, rebuilding after a fire of large warehouse, 1915 (C.R., xxix, 27 Jan. 1913, 56)
NORMAL SCHOOL, for the Roman Catholic Notre Dame Congregation, 1916 (C.R., xxx, 16 Aug. 1916, 65)
ST. ELIE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1916-18 (list of works in obituary, La Tribune [Sherbrooke], 30 April 1955, 3 and 2)
DOMINION CARRIAGE CO., a large factory, 1919 (Montreal Daily Star, 28 April 1919, 3)
SACRED HEART ROMAN CATHOLIC HOSPITAL, Belvidere Street South, major addition to the Orphans and Old Peoples Home, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 28 April 1920, 68; xxxv, 7 Sept. 1921, 794-95, illus.)
unnamed street, major additions and alterations to residence for E.W. Tobin, 1921 (C.R., xxxv, 26 Jan. 1921, 52)
SHERBROOKE CITY HALL, Wellington Street North, 1921-22 (C.R., xxxv, 24 Aug. 1921, 55; 14 Dec. 1921, 1076, illus. & descrip.; La Tribune [Sherbrooke], 20 Feb. 1923, 3)
A.R. WILSON LTD., Frontenac Street, commercial block, 1921 (Le Prix Courant, liv, 2 Sept. 1921, 44)
POLICE & FIRE HALL No. 5, Belvidere Street South at McManamy Street, 1921-22 (Le Prix Courant, liv, 11 Nov. 1921, 16)
BERNARD BLOCK,, a row of three stores with apartments above for Bouthiller & Bernard, King Street West at Belvidere Street, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 8 Feb. 1922, 52)
NEW SHERBROOKE HOUSE HOTEL, King Street West at Depot Street, major addition, 1923 (Le Prix Courant, lvi, 29 March 1923, 66)
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL HOSPITAL, King Street East near Park Avenue, major additions, 1924-25; addition, 1941 (C.R., xxxviii, 7 May 1924, 56; xxxix, 29 April 1925, 406, illus. & descrip.; Const., xviii, April 1925, 119; C.R., liv, 30 July 1941, 28)
WOODWARD AVENUE, residence for William Wright, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 20 June 1928, 57)
PORTLAND STREET, at Ontario Street, residence for Wilfred Legare, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 27 July 1932, 45)
HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE, Wellington Street North, major alterations and expansion, (originally The Clement Theatre built 1900), 1939 (C.R., lii, 8 March 1939, 33; Canadian Moving Picture Digest, 2 Sept. 1939, 11)
SHERBROOKE POST OFFICE, , Wellington Street North, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Jan. 1950, 148)
J.W. GREGOIRE (works elsewhere)
LENNOXVILLE, QUE., Academy for the Protestant School Corporation, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 14 June 1911, 59; 25 Oct. 1911, 59)
THETFORD MINES., QUE., large residence for J. Leonard Demers, St. Alphonse Street, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 14 Jan. 1920, 50)
LENNOXVILLE, QUE., Royal Bank, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 18 Aug. 1920, 52)
ROCK ISLAND, QUE., residence for N.G. Duhamel, 1921 (Le Prix Courant, liv, 21 Jan. 1921, 56)
WINDSOR MILLS, QUE., Roman Catholic school, 1923 (Le Prix Courant, lvi, 9 Feb. 1923, 59)
RICHMOND, QUE, Roman Catholic school, 1923 (Le Prix Courant, lvi, 13 April 1923, 73)
WEEDON, QUE., St. Janvier Roman Catholic church and rectory, 1924 (C.R., xxxviii, 16 April 1924, 54)
RICHMOND, QUE., Roman Catholic Boy's School, 1925 (C.R., xxxix, 27 May 1925, 150)
RICHMOND, QUE., Roman Catholic School, 1928 (Montreal Daily Star, 21 April 1928, 43, t.c.)
RICHMOND, QUE., theatre and stores for J. Bedard, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 29 Aug. 1928, 53)
COMPETITIONS
WINNIPEG, MAN., City Hall, 1913. Gregiore was one of 39 architects from across Canada who submitted plans in this national competition, but he was not among the five finalists (City of Winnipeg Archives, Council Communications, 1913, Box A169, Item 9741, list of entrants). The winners were Clemesha & Portnall of Regina, but their scheme was never built.