Dauphin’s Mackenzie School has had a string of bad luck. Built predominantly for elementary and primary students, a fire burned the structure down within years of it opening in 1909. It was rebuilt and in 1926, burned down again.

For the second time in twenty years, Dauphin students were scattered across the town – using makeshift classrooms in the Legion Hall, Burrows Block, Ramsey-Wright, and the Court House. Little time was wasted finding someone to design a fire-proof replacement.

Colonel J.N. Semmens was hired for the project, designing the new school in the subdued Collegiate Gothic style. A subset of the Gothic Revival style, Collegiate Gothic drew inspiration from English Tudor and Gothic buildings and was largely used for high schools and colleges in North America. The building’s design bears striking similarity to Winnipeg’s Daniel McIntyre Collegiate.

Between 1927-1947 the school was used for primary and secondary grades. Following a 1947 renovation, younger students were transferred to the recently opened Henderson School. The $86,515 renovation project converted classrooms into space for agricultural, commercial, and technical classes. Today, the building is a middle school.

A $4 million-dollar upgrade project for the MacKenzie School was announced by the Province of Manitoba in April 2019.