PITTS, Gordon MacLeod (1886-1954), active in Montreal as partner in the firm of Maxwell & Pitts (see list of works under William S. Maxwell). Born in Fredericton, N.B. on 10 March 1886 he attended schools both there and in Ottawa, then enrolled in the School of Engineering at McGill University in 1904. After graduating in 1908 he worked as an engineer for the CPR, and for several large contracting firms in Montreal. In 1913 he joined the office of E. & W.S. Maxwell, then returned to McGill University and studied architecture, graduating with a degree in 1916. He worked as assistant to John A. Pearson in Ottawa while the firm of Darling & Pearson supervised the reconstruction of the Parliament Building in 1916-19. Pitts then rejoined the Maxwell firm in Montreal, and after the sudden death of Edward Maxwell in 1923 he was invited by William S. Maxwell to become a partner in the new firm of Maxwell & Pitts (Gazette [Montreal], 7 June 1923, 13). A list of works by Maxwell & Pitts from 1923 onwards appears in the Dictionary entry for W.S. Maxwell. In addition to his contribution in that firm, he acted as consulting architect to Amos & Amos for the design of the Laurentian Hotel, Windsor Street at Dorchester Boulevard West, MONTREAL, QUE. 1946-47 (Canadian Hotel Review, xxvi, 15 April 1948, 23).
Pitts was highly respected among his professional colleagues who elected him as President of the P.Q.A.A. in 1935, and as President of the R.A.I.C. in 1942 and again in 1943. He was elected as a Fellow of the R.A.I.C. in 1938, and as a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, England in 1942 (Gazette [Montreal], 7 Aug. 1942, 11, with port.). After WWII he served on Montreal City Council in 1947 and was a member of the powerful Executive Committee of Montreal City Council in 1948, becoming an acknowledged expert in city traffic and transportation. Pitts died in Montreal on 1 March 1954 (obit. Montreal Star, 1 March 1954, 3 & 5; Gazette [Montreal], 2 March 1954, 9; obit. R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxi, April 1954, 131-2; biog. and port. R.A.I.C. Journal, xix, March 1942, 36; biog. and port. Gazette [Montreal], 7 Aug. 1942, 11; Who's Who in Canada, 1943-44, 176; biog. by Prof. John Bland in Edward & W.S. Maxwell: Guide to the Archive, McGill Univ., 1986, 17; inf. Mr. Yves Guillet, St. Lambert, Que.). A photographic portrait of Pitts, taken c. 1935, was published in the Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 24 Jan. 1936, 1.
(works in Montreal)
(with McDougall, Smith & Fleming) McGILL UNIVERSITY, Redpath Library Extension, also called The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, with west side facing McTavish Street, and east side facing the McGill University Quadrangle, 1952-54 (Gazette [Montreal], 26 May 1951, 3, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxix, June 1952, 178, illus.)