Prairie, Edgar | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

PRAIRIE, Edgar (1882-1933) was born in Montreal on 17 October 1882, the son of Joseph Prairie, a contractor by trade. He was educated at Mont St. Louis College and at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal before serving an apprenticeship Maurice Perrault, one of the leading ecclesiastical designers in that city at the turn of the century. Prairie entered the service of the Quebec Government as a draftsman in 1906 and later worked on the plans for the 65th Regiment Armoury (1909, in collaboration with R.A. Brassard) and assisted Marchand & Haskell with their competition drawings for the Saskatchewan Legislative Buildings (1907) and their design for the prison at Bordeaux (1909-10). He opened his own office in 1911 and launched a promising career with a sophisticated and exquisitely rendered design for Ste. Cecile Roman Catholic Church (1912). Regretably only the foundations of his scheme were realized; WWI intervened and the superstructure of the building was not completed until 1924-26 to designs by other architects. While active until 1930 there are few works that can be directly attributed to Prairie. He died in Montreal on 25 November 1933 (biog. and port. in Biographies Canadiannes Francaises, 1922, 208; obituary in the R.A.I.C. Journal, x, Dec. 1933, 209; (R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, ii, 405)

EGLISE STE. CECILE, Drolet Street, begun 1912-13 and completed in 1924-26 by Gascon & Parant (La Presse [Montreal], 27 April 1912, 10, illus. & descrip.; Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 416-19, illus.)
OUTREMONT, apartment block for J.L. Lebel, l'Epee Avenue, 1912 (Outremont b.p. 665, 16 July 1912)
OUTREMONT, residence for Odilon Letourneau, Maplewood Avenue, 1913 (Outremont b.p. 792, 14 May 1913)
ACADEMIE STE. CECILE, Flammarion Street at De Castelnau Street, 1913-14 (La Presse [Montreal], 25 Oct. 1913, 27, illus.)
OUTREMONT, residence for J.A. Morrier, Brunante Avenue, 1916 (Outremont b.p. 1057, 12 Sept. 1916)
unnamed street, apartment block for E. Vallierres, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 31 March 1920, 62, t.c.)
SYNDICAT CATHOLIQUES ET NATIONAUX, DeMontigny Street at Beaudry Street, office block, 1923 (Le Prix Courant, lvi, 29 March 1923, 66)
ST. JOSEPH-DE-SOREL, QUE., hotel for the Eastern Canada Hotel Co., 1925 (C.R., xxxix, 4 Nov. 1925, 47-8)
ST. JEAN BAPTISTE MARKET, St. Laurent Boulevard near Rachel Street, 1931-32 (C.R., xlv, 28 Oct. 1931, 52)