This small Calgary park used to be home to the biggest school in the city

Tucked in the heart of downtown, Haultain Park may seem like an ordinary green space, but the land it sits on was once home to the largest school in Calgary.

According to the City of Calgary, Haultain School, originally known as South Ward School, was constructed on the site between 1893 and 1894. Following the establishment of Calgary Public School District No. 19, it was the third school built and the first in the city to have electricity and running water.

The original two-room sandstone school opened in August 1894. It was built as the city was expanding, serving developing neighbourhoods and educating a mix of students from railway workers and new immigrants to some of Calgary’s wealthier families.

City of Calgary

As the population continued to grow, a larger 10-room sandstone school was built beside it in 1906 to 1907. The original building was then repurposed as an annex, while the larger building quickly became the largest school in the city, with 525 students by 1912. 

The smaller school continued to serve the city, being used as a centre for cadet training, a training school, a gymnasium, an auditorium, a school board storage and workshop, and from 1914 to 1918, it was the headquarters for Calgary’s first school superintendent.

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As Calgary continued to grow, the school’s role in downtown began to shift as neighbourhoods expanded out into the suburbs, and eventually it shut down in 1962. 

On May 12, 1964, a fire broke out and destroyed the main school building, along with an addition that had been added to the Annex, leaving only part of the original complex still standing. 

Due to its history as one of the oldest schools in Calgary, the building was designated as a Registered Historic Resource in 1979 and a Provincial Historic Resource in 2004.

Parks Foundation Calgary/Facebook

The school board still owned the land, but in 1972, it leased the property to the City of Calgary, which transitioned the site into a public park with features such as tennis courts and a skating rink. 

Today, the park still stands and features benches, picnic tables, tennis courts, pathways, and is still home to the original Haultain School, now used as the offices of Parks Foundation Calgary.