by Anthony Imbrogno, volunteer on the BRCA Heritage Committee
Bridgeland-Riverside’s heritage is unique because our community was one of Calgary’s earliest to be established after the railway arrived in 1885.
The area attracted homesteaders and then immigrants seeking less expensive accommodations near to the growing commercial and industrial areas. The General Hospital, Dominion Bridge Company, Riverside Ironworks, the brewery in Inglewood, the stockyards in Ramsay, and the CPR’s repair shop in Ogden were all sources of employment.
As the city grew, Bridgeland-Riverside became less of a stop-over for new arrivals and a red-light district, and more of a fully-fledged community.
The area’s first school, Riverside School, dates back to 1910. An even larger sandstone school was built in 1913. Originally called Bridgeland School, it was renamed after a soldier killed during World War 1, Major Stanley Jones.
Then in 1921, a unique building was constructed. Bridgeland Elementary School is located on 11A Street NE at 2 Avenue. It was the first modern school in Calgary built without sandstone.
Because of the 1886 Great Calgary Fire, the city’s first large schools were required by law to use sandstone. Better fire-fighting technology allowed these rules to be relaxed in 1913, allowing a combination of wood and red brick for large structures.
The school is also unique for its architecture. With different materials came a different aesthetic in the form of the Edwardian style. This means the school has elements in common with the heritage buildings you see today on 4 Street and 1 Avenue, including symmetrical design, stone trims, parapets, and central pediment.
Let’s go inside the building and consider its role as an educational institution. In its early days, the school provided education to children whose first language was not English. It was also one of the first in Calgary to specifically accommodate students with special education needs. This was a unique concept at the time, for it enabled students of different needs to attend the same school.
The original four-room school for Grades 1 to 6 added two more classrooms in 1930. The classrooms were remarkable at the time for their large windows and airy spaces. A gymnasium was completed in 1960.
Behind the building is a large grassy area that was used as a playground. In more recent years, it’s become a city park, which was officially named Schule (German for “school”) Park in 2024. The name recognizes the importance of the school to the area and pays tribute to the immigrants of German descent who contributed to the community and to Calgary.
There is no heritage protection for this building, meaning it’s up to Bridgeland-Riverside’s residents to advocate for our heritage and appreciate and share the value it has to us.
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