Ecole Union Point School at the St. Joseph Museum is now a Municipal Heritage Site.

"The St. Joseph Museum Board applied to the RM of Montcalm to have it designated as a heritage site for the restoration of the school," said St-Joseph Museum Executive Director Camille Fisette Mulaire.

Mulaire explained the museum board applied for funding, as well as the historical designation, so the restoration would follow the historical details of architect Samuel Hooper, who designed the school in 1910.

"The old foundation that the school was moved to is cracked and there's humidity concerns, so we want to make sure that the school is saved, so we're installing a furnace and redoing the foundation and insulation and repainting it," Mulaire added.

Giving a building historical designation was a new process for the RM of Montcalm, and council has now worked with the province on what the policies are for the process.

So far the museum board has $10,000 from the Thomas Sill Foundation, a little over $30,000 from the Community Places Program, and the St. Joseph Museum is also putting forth some funds.

This school has an interesting past when it comes to fighting for French Education.

In 1916, the Thornton Act revoked the agreement to allow French language education

"In 1911 the Lorial Greenway Law stated that if there are 10 students that are in the school that the language of choice could be taught," she said. "Having a strong population of Francophones in the area, the request was made to have French taught in the Union Point School."

However, in 1916 an act prohibited French or any other language than English to be taught in school.

"That's when the school councillors really worked at trying to continue teaching French," said Mulaire. The teachers took it upon themselves to continue teaching French even though it was against the law.

"Students at the time remember hiding books as the (inspectors) came into the school," Mulaire explained.

The school was once located beside the Union Point Church, along Highway 75 in the RM of Morris. Mulaire was asked how the school ended up in St. Joseph.

"When Highway 75 was divided and widened, the school had to be moved to allow more space for the highway," she said. "Mr. and Mrs. Jean-Louis Perron from St. Joseph has started their artifact collection, and had started also, in a sense, collecting buildings."

The school seemed to be a good fit for the historical village, and now the school is part of the St. Joseph Historical Village.