| 1877 | Alma chartered as private girls' school. |
| 1881 | School opens under principal Benjamin Fish Austin |
| 1886 | School filled to capacity, prompting construction of new wing. |
| 1918 -1953 | Principal Perry Dobson and his wife Harriet nurture the school from near collapse to international stature. New athletic facilities, a chapel and an amphitheatre constructed. |
| 1973 | Officials from the debt-ridden college ask city and county council for financial help. |
| 1988 | Alma College secondary school closes after bitter teachers' strike. Primary grade and music school continue. |
| 1993 | Board of directors announces the high school to reopen in September 1994. |
| 1994 | Low registration scuttles reopening. College is shut down and receiver appointed. |
| 1995 | The Alma College International Alumnae Association announces plans to buy and reopen the school as well as a retirement home, performing arts center and train depot. |
| 1996 | A long, legally tangled bidding war for the property breaks out between the alumnae association and Royal Cambridge, a Toronto development company headed by William Fong. |
| Dec. 1996 | Royal Cambridge wins the legal battle to buy the property for $1.5 million. Fong plans to open a co-ed school and restore the buildings. |
| Nov. 1997 | Alma College is used as a set for Mr. Headmistress, an ABC made-for-TV movie. |
| Dec. 1997 | Royal Cambridge defaults on mortgage payments and school is for sale again. |
| May 1998 | A judicial sale of the building is aborted when all bids fall short of the reserve bid. |
| Aug. 1998 | Alma College is sold to a London development company led by Brian Squires, part of the Zubick family, for approx $900,000. Squires plans to build a retirement community on the site. He spends several years preparing the site and arranging financing. |
| Dec. 2002 | St. Thomas council selects Burwell Road as preferred site for new Valleyview seniors' home, rejecting Squires' bid to build it on the Alma site. |
| Jan. 2003 | Squires applies for a demolition permit for Alma College. |
| Mar. 2003 | Based on an engineering firm's report which deems the building structurally sound, and on the Municipal Heritage committee's recommendation, St. Thomas council denies the demolition permit. |
| Apr. 2003 | Squires offers to sever a portion of the land in return for a tax receipt and a commitment from council to build the Valleyview home there. Council declines. |
| Oct. 2004 | Squires holds an open house on the grounds, and announces revived plans for a retirement community on the site. |
| Mar. 2005 | Squires had tried to get the retirement community plan going, but did not succeed. In March 2005 he quits the project, and Jill Zubick takes over. Alma College is put up for sale again. |
| 2005 | The gutted interior of Alma College is used as a set for the movie Silent Hill. |
| Jan. 2006 | Unable to sell the college, the Zubicks again apply for a demolition permit. |
| Feb. 2006 | The Municipal Heritage Committee recommends that the demolition permit be denied, that city council prescribe minimum standards for maintenance of the building under section 35.3 of the Ontario Heritage Act, and that the city seek further financial assistance from the provincial Ministry of Heritage. |
| Feb. 2006 | The Heritage Canada foundation names Alma College on its top 10 "endangered" list. |
| July 2006 | A group of local people hear a proposal to build a small liberal arts college on the Alma site. |
| Aug. 2006 | City council denies the demolition permit. The Zubicks apply for a hearing before the Ontario Municipal Board. |
| Aug. 2006 | The local group, consisting of community leaders, university academics, and Alma College alumnae, forms the Alma College Foundation, with the intent of restoring the site into a liberal arts college. The group makes an offer to the Zubicks to buy the property, conditional on a satisfactory engineer's report of the main building. The Zubicks report that they also have an offer from another group. |
| Dec. 2006 | The Alma College Foundation increase their offer to $750,000. The Zubicks reject the offer. |
| Feb. 2007 | Although city council had created a bylaw setting minimum property standards for heritage properties, the Zubicks successfully challenge the bylaw in court. The bylaw is overturned for being too specific in its wording. |
| Sep. 2007 | With the building falling further into disrepair, and demolition likely, the Alma College Foundation asks the Zubicks for permission to salvage artifacts of architectural and historical significance. Permission is not granted. |
| Oct. 2007 | Faced with a costly and protracted Ontario Municipal Board hearing, St. Thomas city council agrees to allow the Zubicks to demolish the building on two main conditions: that the main entranceway be preserved, and that the front facade be replicated in any new building. This agreement is presented to the Ontario Municipal Board. |
| Jan. 2008 | The Ontario Municipal Board approves the demolition of Alma College. |
| May 2008 | Local residents petition the provincial government to step in and prevent the demolition. |
| May 28, 2008 | Two teenage boys enter Alma College around noon and set it on fire. The iconic tower and entire upper floor burn away. The brick shell of the lower two floors remains standing, to be taken down by bulldozers the next day. Only the music building and original chapel are left. It is a sad end to a grand building that brought much character and life to St. Thomas. But in some ways, Alma went out on her own terms -- in a blaze of glory, not waiting for the wrecker's ball. |
| May 2009 | City property standards officer issues a list of cleanup priorities to owner George Zubick, including repairs to the chapel roof. The cleanup and repairs were not completed. |
| Aug. 2011 | Jill and George Zubick renew efforts to sell the property, asking $2.4 million. |
| March 2016 | After years of neglect and decay, the Alma College property is sold to a property manager, Gino Reale, acting on behalf of a group of local investors. |
The above table compiled by London Free Press reporter Hank Daniszewski through Jan 2003.
