LACOURSIERE, Arthur (1910-1982), active in the central Quebec region of Shawinigan Falls for the duration of his career. He was a native of Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S.A., born there on 12 March 1910 and attended Lyman Hall High School there from 1924 to 1926. He moved to Shawinigan Falls in 1926 and attended the Technical Institute there in 1927-30, then moved to Montreal where he studied architecture at McGill University from 1931 to 1936. He worked briefly as a staff architect for C.I.L. Industries Ltd., under the direction of Albert Gauthier, and in January 1938 he moved to Sudbury, Ont. to train as an assistant to Louis N. Fabbro until December 1939. While there, he contributed to the design of several modern works including the YMCA, the Rio Theatre, All Saints Church, and the federal Post Office at Mattawa, Ont. (see list of works in the entry for Louis N. Fabbro).
Lacoursiere moved to central Quebec in 1941 and opened an office in Shawinigan Falls. His major works there include institutional and ecclesiastical works for the Roman Catholic diocese, as well as educational buildings in that town and surrounding communities. He continued to practise until 1965, and later died in Shawinigan Falls in 1982. His successor was Jean Paul Monette, who inherited all of the architectural drawings which Lacoursiere had prepared in the period from 1945 to 1964 (inf. from Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects, Montreal)
(works in Shawinigan Falls)
CITY HALL, designed 1941, but construction postponed until 1941 (C.R., liv, 6 Aug. 1941, 30; Architecture Batiment Construction, ii, June 1947, 25, illus.; iv, July 1949, 40, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxix, Dec, 1952, 356-57, illus.)
THEATRE AUDITORIUM & ROXY THEATRE, 1941 (C.R., liv, 12 Feb. 1941, 35; 11 June 1941, 32)
5th STREET, retails stores for Mrs. P. Carrier, 1946 (C.R., lix, April 1946, 149)
ECOLE DU CHRIST ROI, 1947 (C.R., lx, May 1947, 120; Architecture Batiment Construction, iv, July 1949, 44, illus.)
STE. THERESE ROMAN CATHOLIC HOSPITAL, major addition, 1948 (C.R., lxi, May 1948, 175; Architecture Batiment Construction, iv, July 1949, 43, illus.)
ST. MARC RECREATION CENTRE, for the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Marc, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, July 1950, 126; Architecture Batiment Construction, v, July 1950, 27, illus.)
CURLING CLUB, 1950 (Architecture Batiment Construction, v, July 1950, 25, illus.)
(works elsewhere)
TROIS RIVIERES, QUE., major addition to the Cooke Sanatorium, Ste. Marguerite Street, 1946-47 (C.R., lix, May 1946, 118; lx, Aug. 1947, 260; Architecture Batiment Construction, iv, July 1949, 45, illus.)
ALMAVILLE, QUE., Ste. Jeanne d’Arc Roman Catholic School & Residence, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, Nov. 1947, 142; Architecture Batiment Construction, iv, July 1949, 44, illus.)
CAP-DE-LA-MADELEINE, QUE., Hopital Cloutier, for the Soeurs Grieses de la Croix, 1949 (C.R., lxii, May 1949, 156; Architecture Batiment Construction, v, July 1950, 26, illus; viii, March 1953, 40-42, illus. & descrip.)
SHAWINIGAN SOUTH, QUE., St. Sauveur Roman Catholic Church, 1950 (Architecture Batiment Construction, v, July 1950, 27, illus.)
SHAWINIGAN SOUTH, QUE., Fire Hall, 1950 (Architecture Batiment Construction, v, July 1950, 25, illus.)
STE. FLORE, QUE., Roman Catholic convent and residence, 1950-51 (C.R., lxiii, Aug. 1950, 240)
STE. TITE, QUE., addition to the Roman Catholic College for the Brothers of St. Gabriel, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Sept. 1950, 128-29)
STE. TITE, QUE., addition to the Roman Catholic convent, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Sept. 1950, 128-29)
ST. ROCH-DE-MEKINAC, QUE., Roman Catholic church, 1950-51 (C.R., lxiii, Nov. 1950, 120)