SOUCY, Jean Baptiste (1899-1966), active in Quebec City, P.Q. where he served as Director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1936 to 1963. His name is also connected with several architectural works in Montreal, and he had a particular interest in the events surrounding the Winter Carnival in Quebec City where he designed two Winter Ice Palaces for this outdoor festival. Born at Bas-de-Fleuve, Que. on 1 July 1899, he attended college at Ste. Anne de la Pocatiere, Que., then studied architecture at the local Ecole-des-Beaux-Arts in Montreal where he graduated in 1925. After receiving a generous scholarship, he moved to Paris, France and continued his studies at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs, receiving his diploma in 1928.
After returning to Montreal, Soucy became a professor of architecture at the local Ecole des Beaux Arts, but in 1931, in a re-organization of the provincial teaching system, he was appointed to a similar post in Quebec City at the Ecole in that city (R.A.I.C. Journal, viii, Nov. 1931, 403), and later became Director of the School there in 1936. After his retirement from the School in 1963, Soucy was appointed as Chief Architect for the provincial Dept. of Public Works. Soucy died in an auto accident in Quebec City on 16 August 1966 (obituary Le Soleil [Quebec City], 17 Aug. 1966, 39; obituary and port. L'Action [Quebec City], 18 Aug. 1966, 17).
(works in Quebec Province)
MONTREAL, QUE., residence for J.B. Soucy, architect, St. Joseph Boulevard East, 1930 (City of Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 668-9, illus.)
SOREL, QUE., Town Hall, Charlotte Street, 1930 (Parks Canada, Town Halls of Canada, 1987, 275)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., Ice Palace, for the annual outdoor Carnival, 1955, and another Ice Palace in 1956 (F. Anderes & A. Agranoff, Ice Palaces, 1983, 114)