News Archives: A Lifelong Relationship
Friday, September 29th, 2017
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GPRC has been a part of John Webster’s life even before he started working there. His father was the first custodian at Grande Prairie Junior College Webster had the opportunity to get to know some of the people working at the College. “It just seemed like a really friendly place,” said Webster.
Webster was a student at NAIT studying Architecture Technology when he was offered a summer job in the College maintenance and custodial department. That summer led Webster into a 39-year career.
Right from the beginning Webster knew the College was a place he wanted to work. “The opportunities were there. The growth was there. The challenges were there. And every year, from that day to the end of the thirty-nine years my career changed probably ten times with them,” said Webster.
The College underwent many construction and renovation projects in Webster’s time. Buildings were acquired and repurposed. The College built residences, the electric building and Anderson Hall. They renovated finance, the bookstore, student services and the library; and they tore down Anderson Hall.
The Cardinal building underwent many renovations. However, no matter what the renovation or upgrade they tried to preserve the architecture of the building. “Every time I took down a wall it bothered me that we were altering this building, but we tried to improve it and make it better for the function that was needed at the time. We also tried to keep the external appearance as close to the original as we could,” said Webster.
According to Webster working in the Cardinal building was comparable to a metal carpenter’s square he had accidently heated in a burn barrel: the metal twisted in every direction like a pretzel. “Contractors have told me over the years that a square is not a useful tool anymore. I can’t use a square in this building. It doesn’t work,” said Webster.
After 39 years at GPRC Webster applied to work as the Grande Prairie Project Manager for Alberta Infrastructure on the hospital and health education centre project west of the Grande Prairie campus.
“The day I left I felt bad about leaving. You’ve been there that long. You know every inch of the place. You get involved with every department and every person. Even the students. You have this relationship. It’s a bond you build,” said Webster.
Though no longer working for the College itself Webster is still working on College land as GPRC contributed the land for the new health and education facility. He also worked with the College to ensure that the education wing is developed to meet the classroom space and needs of the students who will take their health care and nursing programs in the hospital.
“The design was intended to complement the College because they’re adjacent to each other. Some people will say they shouldn’t have built this design because it’s more costly than a conventional square building,” said Webster. “I heard lots of that when I was at the College too. People saying this design is expensive. I think it is, but it’s also unique. I’m pretty proud that both of those buildings are in Grande Prairie.”
