Last of the great sandstone schools: Behold Balmoral

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Balmoral Faculty was the final and most costly of the 19 sandstone colleges constructed by the Calgary Faculty Board between 1892 and 1914. Because the native historical past librarian on the Calgary Public Library, Jennifer Bobrovitz wrote a weekly column for the Calgary Herald within the Nineties known as Cornerstones. It explored the tales behind historic buildings in Calgary, current and previous. This was her column about Balmoral Faculty initially printed Sept. 12, 1999.

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Balmoral Faculty, 220 – 16 Avenue N. W.

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By Jennifer Bobrovitz

Constructed: 1913 – 1914

Architects: Public Faculty Board architects Hugh McClelland and William Branton

Contractor: James S. McPhail

Authentic value: The estimated worth of constructing and property in 1930 was $246,871.

Authentic proprietor: Calgary Faculty Board

Building supplies: Metal construction with clean reduce sandstone cladding and slate shingles.

Authentic inside particulars: 16 lecture rooms

Historic highlights:

– Constructed on property bought from N. J. Duckworth for $1,700. The college was named for town’s Balmoral District which was named after Balmoral Fort, the Royal Household’s ancestral Scottish dwelling.

– Balmoral was the final and most costly of 19 sandstone colleges constructed by the Calgary Faculty Board between 1892 and 1914 to accommodate town’s speedy development. The declaration of the First World Battle ended the college development program and with it the period of the sandstone faculty. By the tip of the conflict lots of the sandstone artisans had returned to Scotland and Drugs Hat brick had changed sandstone as a fairly priced constructing materials.

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– The college opened in 1914 however was formally devoted in 1915.

– The tower clock, initially delayed by wartime shortages, was by no means bought. For a time round 1917, a clock face with fingers pointing to 4 p.m. was painted on the tower instead of the lacking clock. Among the many many wild tales surrounding the empty clock tower was one which claimed that the clock sank with the Titanic in April 1912.

– William Aberhart, later Social Credit score Premier of Alberta, was the college’s first principal. Throughout his tenure from 1915 to 1928 Balmoral provided elementary courses and offered short-term quarters for Crescent Heights Excessive Faculty.

– With the completion of Crescent Heights Excessive Faculty in 1929, Aberhart and his highschool college students moved into the brand new facility. Balmoral reverted to an elementary faculty with enrolment from 800 to 1,000 college students yearly.

– In 1937 Balmoral Elementary expanded to embrace junior excessive grades. When H.D. Cartwright was appointed principal in 1938 there have been 15 lecturers and 445 college students. The primary version of the college’s newspaper, The Barometer, was printed in October 1938 underneath the editorship of Donald Nelson.

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– By 1943 situations at Balmoral have been fairly crowded with 500 enrolled in elementary and 406 in junior excessive. Each college students and lecturers supported the conflict effort with journal collections for the forces, Purple Cross work, conflict salvage and conflict financial savings gross sales. The college provided Canadian Legion instructional courses in outlets and stitching and offered night time courses in woodworking.

– In 1955 a gymnasium was constructed on the college’s west aspect. A flash fireplace on Could 24, 1963 precipitated $28,000 harm to the health club. It was subsequently repaired and re-opened.

– Greater than 1,000 former lecturers and college students attended Balmoral’s fiftieth anniversary on Jan. 17, 1964. At the moment the college had an enrolment of 580 college students in 9 junior excessive, 5 elementary and one particular classroom.

– Over time Balmoral’s extracurricular applications lined a variety of pursuits and actions together with the secure driving membership, boys’ cooking membership, the literary membership, orchestra, faculty patrol, hockey, soccer, basketball, Ladies Battle Work Membership, Mannequin Membership, Stitching Membership, women’ woodwork and badminton.

– In 1974 the college board requested the dad and mom of Balmoral’s 150 elementary college students to switch their youngsters to close by elementary colleges. This unpopular request, allegedly designed to make more room accessible for junior excessive college students, was unsuccessful. With the specter of closure looming, dad and mom and board reached an settlement on Could 14, 1974 — the college would stay open so long as there have been at the least 60 elementary college students.

– In 1984 Balmoral’s elementary program was discontinued on account of declining enrolment. The 24-room faculty continued as Balmoral Junior Excessive serving the communities of Coventry Hills, Crescent Heights, Mount Nice, Panorama Hills and Tuxedo Park. In 1996 enrolment stood at 173 college students.

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