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Community Heritage Roundtable comes to the Jewish Community

By Irena
Karshenbaum
For the Jewish Free Press

Sometime in January of 2002, I was so angry at the proposed demolition of the historic St. Mary’s School that I wrote a letter to the Calgary Herald voicing my support for the protection and restoration of this 1909 landmark. Someone from the community preservation group saw my letter and called me to invite me to join the protests. I still remember
shivering, in the -30 degree Celsius weather, with other passionate citizens waving our placards to try to save the brick and sandstone
school. A photo of the protest ended up in the Herald. A very unpleasant battle was waged, and lost. St. Mary’s School was demolished. Yet what was so weird is on the same location, a replica of the school was
built. (Why did the Calgary Catholic School Board build a replica when they could have restored the original?

Continued here:
http://www.calgaryheritage.org/documents/JFP_Dec_16_2011.pdf