Calgary Heritage Initiative forums

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

Updated July 9, 2011... see bottom post
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The old Catholic School Building, most recently occupied by the Workers Compensation Board, at 300 6th Avenue SE, is for sale by the Calgary Catholic School District as a redevelopment site (via Colliers international) according to newspaper ads in the first week of January 2011. The 1968 building is on the heritage inventory, and includes thousands of plaques that were done by Catholic school students for the 1975 Calgary centennial, attached to facades and on an obelisk. We are rapidly losing our small stock of brutalist-style buildings (the CBE HQ across the street, an excellent example, will also soon be vacated and be put up for sale, presumably). As for the centennial obelisk and plaques, are there any plans to preserve or relocate them?

(Yours truly did one of those plaques and was a representative of Sacred Heart School at the grand unveiling; I was in grade 3 and as I recall I was allowed to walk all the way from the school in Sunalta to the "east end" of downtown by myself for the dedication ceremony. Hard to imagine today!)

rcuthbertson · Joined: 13 Mar 2011 Posts: 1

Hi:
My name is Richard Cuthbertson and I'm a reporter with the Calgary Herald. I'd be interested in speaking with you about the Catholic School District building.
My number is 403-470-7827.
Cheers
Richard

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

We'll be giving you a call soon. Thanks.

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

'Brutalist' old Catholic school board building may have heritage value
By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald March 15, 2011

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Brutalist+Catholic+school+board+building+have+heritage+value/4438760/story.html#ixzz1GtxaMlw9

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

More stuff about those brutalist school HQ buildings and other brutalist structures in Calgary. Below is a video related to the above article, including interview with Scott Jolliffe, on Herald's own video site and Youtube:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/videos/index.html?v=1841803263
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXHiVrqHwCE

Should city keep 'Brutal' part of our past?
Editorial Calgary Herald March 21, 2011

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it would be easy to conclude the former Calgary Catholic School District headquarters should be bulldozed. The heritage value of a building, though, is more than its sense of physical attractiveness, which, like fashion, changes over the decades...

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Should+city+keep+Brutal+part+past/4475921/story.html#ixzz1HFxG2AqE

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

A couple of letters to the editor on the threat to the old brutalist Catholic school board building:

The big 5-0
By Leslie Dorsett, Calgary Herald March 22, 2011 Re: "Should city keep 'Brutal' part of our past?" Editorial, March 21.
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/The+big+5-0/4481291/story.html#ixzz1HdrmnzUv

Colour this 'Brutal' world brighter
By David L. Neill, Calgary Herald March 23, 2011 Re: "Should city keep 'Brutal' part of our past?" Editorial, March 20.
Yes, paint it...
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/Colour+this+Brutal+world+brighter/4488145/story.html

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

The brutalist former Catholic School Centre (later WCB) has been sold to Bow Valley College. It looks like demolition is not imminent....

Bow Valley mulls options for building

By David Parker, For the Calgary Herald July 8, 2011

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Valley+mulls+options+building/5070691/story.html#ixzz1ReUyEkVg

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

Catholic school board sells former headquarters for $13.7M

Calgary Herald August 10, 2011

The Calgary Catholic School District gained an extra $13.7 million to spend on buildings and maintenance after the sale of its former downtown headquarters. The district sold its old building at 300 6th Ave. S.E. to Bow Valley College this week. The almost 40-yearold building, which sits at the north end of the college, will be used to expand the college...

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Catholic+school+board+sells+former+headquarters/5232197/story.html#ixzz1UdwRQESC

The plaque-covered obelisk is to be moved to a new location TBA. No word on the plaques that are attached to the building itself. The plaques were made by schoolchildren as part of 1975 Calgary Centennial celebrations.

newsposter · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1812

The plaque-covered obelisk at the former Catholic school headquarters (see above) is being moved to St. Monica's school in Mission, at the corner of 2nd Street and 18th Avenue SW. It is covered in plaques made by Catholic school students for the 1975 Calgary centennial. The obelisk is part of the history of the old HQ site, and from that POV the move is unfortunate. Nevertheless, the new location, at a school in Calgary's Catholic "heartland", near the Cathedral, seems very appropriate. The plaques remaining on the old HQ building itself are not detachable without some demolition happening. We haven't heard that the new owners, Bow Valley College, have any such immediate plans.