DESGAGNE, Leonce (1908-1979), a successful and remarkably prolific architect active in the Saguenay Region of central Quebec, and who worked outside the mainstream architectural circles of Montreal and Quebec City. Born in Riviere du Moulin, Que. on 23 March 1908, he studied classics at the Seminary in Chicoutimi, Que. in 1925-28, and then moved to Quebec City in 1929 to study architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts there. He excelled in his studio work, winning the Atanassa David prize, and was later awarded the Maxwell Prize of $500 before graduating in 1933. No information has been found on where, or with whom, he served his apprenticeship, but by 1935 he had opened an office under his own name in Chicoutimi. His professional activity there included the following offices:
L. Desagne (1935-1943)
Desgagne & Boileau (1944-1958)
Desgagne & Cote (1958-1969)
Desgagne & Laberge (1970-1974)
He and his professional partner Paul Boileau were among the first architects of the Saguenay to introduce the modernist style of contemporary architecture to the central Quebec region, and during his career he completed designs for over 400 educational, institutional, commercial and industrials projects in Chicoutimi, Jonquiere, Arvida and in surrounding towns. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Inst. of Canada in 1961, and continued to practise in Chicoutimi until retiring in 1974. Desgagne died in Chicoutimi, Que. on 14 June 1979 (obit. Le Quotidien [Chicoutimi], 15 June 1979, B 11; biog. and list of works in Qui Etes-Vous?, 1946, 61; biog. and port. Les Biographies Francaises d’Amerique, 1950, 811). The Centre d’Archives du Saguenay-Lac Saint Jean holds an extensive collection of drawings prepared by Desgagne, by Desgagne & Boileau, by Desgagne & Cote, and by Desgagne & Laberge during the period from 1939 to 1974.
L. DESGAGNE
ST. GEDEON, QUE., Roman Catholic church, 1936 (dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
(with Eugene Larose) CHICOUTIMI, QUE., Roman Catholic Convent, for the Rev. Sisters Antoniennes de Jesus, 1938 (C.R., li, 6 April 1938, 35)
ST. HEDWIDGE, QUE., Roman Catholic church, 1939 (dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
(with Lamontagne & Gravel) CHICOUTIMI, QUE., major additions to the Roman Catholic hospital, 1941, 1942, and 1943 (C.R., liv, 16 April 1941, 31; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
SAGUENAY, QUE., Oratoire St. Joseph, 1941-43 (France Vanlaethem, Patrimoine en Devenir: l’Architecture Moderne du Quebec, 2012, 72, illus.)
DESGAGNE & BOILEAU
JONQUIERE, QUE., repairs to the Roman Catholic church, with major addition to the presbytery, St. Dominique Street, 1946 (C.R., lix, July 1946, 105; L. Noppen & L.K. Morisset, Jonquiere - Memoires et lieu, 1994, 28, 30-31, illus.)
DOLBEAU, QUE., Ste. Therese d’Avila Roman Catholic Church, 1946-47 (Continuite [Quebec City], No. 39, Spring 1988, 34; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
JONQUIERE, QUE., Jonquiere Automobile Ltd., St. Dominique Street at St. Germain Street, auto showroom and garage, 1947 (Le Progres du Saguenay [Chicoutimi], 5 June 1947, 5-7, illus. & descrip.; inf. Scott Edwards)
CHICOUTIMI, QUE., Sports Arena, for the Chicoutimi Agricultural Society, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, April 1947, 94; lxi, April 1948, 146, t.c.; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
(with Fetherstonhaugh, Durnford, Bolton & Chadwick) ARVIDA, QUE., St. Jacques Roman Catholic Church, Hocquart Street, 1947-48 (Architecture Batiment Construction, ii, Oct. 1947, 50; L. Noppen & L.K. Morisset, Jonquiere - Memoires et lieu, 1994, 28, 94-5, illus.; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
BAGOTVILLE, QUE., Roman Catholic convent, 1948 (C.R., lxi, Oct. 1948, 184; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
BAGOTVILLE, QUE., sports arena, 1948 (dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
JONQUIERE, QUE., St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic School, Edmond Street, 1949 (L. Noppen & L.K. Morisset, Jonquiere - Memoires et lieu, 1994, 29, 31, illus.)
PERIBONKA, QUE., St. Edouard Roman Catholic Church, 1948-49 (C.R., lxi, Nov. 1948, 140; Continuite [Quebec City], No. 39, Spring 1988, 34; L. Noppen & L.K. Morisset, Jonquiere - Memoires et lieu, 1994, 96; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
DES BIENS MILLS, QUE., Roman Catholic monastery for the Redemptorist Fathers, 1949 (C.R., lxii, April 1949, 153; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi)
ARVIDA, QUE., Notre Dame de l'Assomption Roman Catholic School, Hudson Street, 1949-50 (C.R., lxii, Aug. 1949, 220; Sept. 1949, 160; Le Lingot [Arvida], 7 June 1951, 1 & 10, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. ANQ Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, Chicoutimi; inf. Scott Edwards)
ARVIDA, QUE., Notre Dame du Sourire Roman Catholic School, 11th Street, 1950-51 (C.R., lxiii, Oct. 1950, 153; Le Lingot [Arvida], 14 Dec. 1950, 1, illus.; inf. Scott Edwards)
ARVIDA, QUE., Saguenay-Quebec Telephone Exchange, Mellon Street, 1950-51 (Le Lingot [Arvida], 19 July 1951, 5, illus. & descrip.; inf. Scott Edwards)
RIVIERE DU MOULIN, QUE., Sacred Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, 1950-51 (C.R., lxiii, Nov. 1950, 120)
ST. ANDRE DU LAC ST. JEAN, QUE., St. Andre Apotre Roman Catholic Church, Principale Street, 1950-52 (Province of Quebec, Inventaire des lieux de culte du Quebec, 2012 [online], inf. Scott Edwards)
ARVIDA, QUE., Hudson's Bay Co. Department Store, Davis Square at Hunt Street, 1953 (Le Lingot [Arvida], 5 March 1953, 1, illus.; 30 April 1953, 1, descrip.; inf. Scott Edwards)