Located in the Calgary community of Scarboro and overlooking downtown, there’s grand structure of sandstone dating back over a century. We’re speaking of Sunalta School and if you drive along Crowchild Trail near 17th Avenue SW you won’t miss it. There, on the east side at the pedestrian bridge. At one point in the 1970s, I (Chris) attended class here, but just briefly.
This big old building is the target for today’s Then & Now, but we’re not comparing a broad historic view (though we might one day), and instead it’s just a wall. All this for a wall. Yes – we have a class photo from long ago and want see where it was shot. It may seem like an odd thing, but if we find the location, we’ll share an intimate connection with those people from the past. Plus it’s part treasure hunt and together, that to us is a thrill.
Sunalta School Calgary 1917 & 2025 + some 2017 views. Historical comparisons with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
Thanks to “Byron Robb” for sponsoring this and many other posts at BIGDoer.com. Be like Byron…
The results will be unmarkable, yet it’s still super interesting and that’s good enough for us.
The sandstone blocks at Sunalta School are textured and with no two the same, it’s very likely any unique patterns seen in 1917 are still there today. Even if the material is somewhat soft and prone to weathering, something should remain. Those ridges and valleys are like a fingerprint and all we have to do it find them.
Scroll down for photos and to comment.
We simply walk about and note any windows at ground level. Then we look to see if the blocks close by match up and if not, move on. It’s good sized building, but in a worse case scenario, we only have to circle it once. The only possible issue is if the location was along the outer wall where they added gymnasium. That’s not the case and the spot is right around the corner from the front entrance at the staff parking lot.
Check the pattern in the photo against the pattern on the wall…yes, this is it. If you pull in to park here, you’ll be looking right at it. Our photo from 108 years ago shows a group of students and it was captured right here! It happened right on this very spot (said while making an enthusiastic pointing motion you can’t see).
The blocks look the same, the windows are the same size, and the search is over. Frame the shot, snap the photo and it’s done.
Then…
When the photographer of old captured that shot of these students, Sunalta School was only a few years old and we’ve included a little history below.
The file that came with the image reads: “Mr Howard J Spicer, first principal with Grade VIII class, Sunalta School, Calgary, Alberta.” He’s a stern looking fellow, but back then, school staff often were. They were not here to be your friend, but to prepare you for a cruel and heartless world. Mr Spicer passed on in 1932 at the age of 52.
There’s no student names listed and it’s doubtful we’d ever know who’s who. But still we looked and probably wasted more time than we should. Just a thought…kids back then seemed smaller when compared to their modern contemporaries.
Those students grew up and perhaps went on to live full lives with kids of their own. Did their kids attend class here? Or grand kids? Without names, it’s all a mystery and we suspect it’ll remain so for all time.
Now…
The sandstone blocks have not really changed and we’ve marked a few to demonstrate that. There’s a downspout and gas meter here now, but it’s otherwise as it was. In 1917, incidentally, it’s likely the building was heated by coal.
A bit of history…
Sunalta School opened for class in 1912 or 1913 (reports differ). Back then it was on the western edge of Calgary, but today this location rates as inner-city. You have to travel some 8.5km directly west to hit the city-limits now. Such growth!
The location here is Scarboro (or Scarborough) and it’s just west of downtown.
The school shares a name with the Sunalta neighbourhood just down the hill. Interestingly, on many old maps what is present day Scarboro shows as part of that community then. Presumably the name Sunalta is a portmanteau of the words “Sunny and Alberta” – Alta itself being an abbreviation for the province at the time. Now it’s AB.
The builders of Sunalta School used locally sourced sandstone and it came from a quarry just a bit to the west. About where present day Crowchild Trail runs. There’s plenty of this sedimentary rock under Calgary, so many old structures in the city are of this material. That includes a good number of early schools too and we’ll touch on that more in a moment.
Easily accessed and well suited for large structures like this, there were many quarries active in the general area up until about World War One. You can still find scars from some of these operations in parks and along river valleys. Back then Calgary had the moniker “Sandstone City”.
There were nineteen sandstone schools built across the city between 1894 and 1914, with many still in use today. Most share a similar design with Sunalta, with massive and imposing forms.
Common to the time, there were two entrances to these schools, on opposite ends and each marked accordingly in the stonework above. One for girls and one for boys. Each gender also had its own playground too and they liked to keep them separated back then.
This gender splitting rule, it appears, was in place into the early 1970s, at least in this part of the country. We believe it was Canada wide at various times. I recall recall it being enforced back when attending grades one and maybe two. Pretty certain of it. Those currently attending Sunalta School must wonder about these odd anachronisms.
The gymnasium addition dates to the the latter half of the 1950s. A large mural adorns two sides and is visible to many passing motorists everyday on busy/noisy Crowchild Trail.
At various times they taught grades kindergarten through six here (including currently) and kindergarten through nine. And I swear only grades seven through nine at one point – more in a moment. Enrollment is about three hundred and fifty, which is slightly more than the traditional average over the last few decades. They have classes for students with special needs here as well.
A personal connection…
Back in 1977, Chris, forever your humble master of ceremonies here at BIGDoer.com, attended grade seven at Sunalta. For a few months anyway – the old man was always running from trouble and we rarely stayed in the same spot long. I swear it was a junior high only at that time.
I just don’t remember any little kids attending. But then again, it was long ago and memories are cloudy. Had a passionate hate-on for school then – dreadful, hellish, jail like and too structured. It was not my scene, the tall and lanky little trouble-making s**t that I was. I preferred the freedom of doing nothing and that’s it.
Still there was a pivotal moment at Sunalta School one day. While serving sentence, mundane day after mundane day passing at a snail’s pace, came an announcement. It seems a well known author and historian Pierre Burton* was due to speak at the school. It sounds kinda interesting. Mental note: don’t skip out that day.
And it begins. The subjects touched on were broad, but he spent much time speaking of his days as a youth in Dawson City Yukon. That’s waaaaay up in Canada’s far north and an historic town central to the Gold Rush of 1898. Since I was a kid, I dreamt of the place. So even long before hearing Burton sharing his tales of the Yukon, it occupied my thoughts.
So far I’ve yet to make the journey, but it’ll happen some time. Hearing him just drove the desire to go to insane levels, and the fever is still strong to this day.
I later ducked backstage and got the chance to chat one on one with Mr Burton. For a short time. I stood there spellbound, hanging on every word, as he spoke more about the history of the Yukon. I think it’s here I caught the bug for doing what we here at BIGDoer.com. It’s a fond memory from school, so class wasn’t a total wash.
More…
The school grounds were dead quiet on our visit in 2017, with only the noise from Crowchild Trail breaking the silence. Many planes passed overhead and you got to wonder where they’re going. On the grounds, there’s a boulder with the names of graduates from 2004 carved in. Rock on!
A couple fire escapes lead to the second floor and there’s good views of downtown up there. It’s a long way up for some who hates heights – and the see-through slotted tread doesn’t help in the least.
I hated Sunlata School and with a passion unequaled. But here, this night, I’ve come to appreciate it as a fine old structure. I made peace with it I suppose and there’s a realization that the building deserves no blame. We visit often now when walking about the community and always pause in its shadow to reminisce.
The community of Scarboro predates Sunalta School by a couple years and there’s many fine residential homes here. Big, old mansion type places. My family once lived down the hill a bit, in a more blue-collar neighbourhood off 14th Street. Where the working class lived.
We sure hope you’ve enjoyed this Then & Now compassion and the history that came of it.
The old image used in this historical comparison is thanks to the University of Calgary Archives and other than a little straightening, has not been altered. It had a tilt to it and this was a little distracting.
*The National Dream and The Last Spike, on the building and running of the Canadian Pacific Railway, are Burton’s most well known books.
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Date of adventure: 1917, April 2025 + December, 2017. Location: Scarboro neighbourhood, Calgary Alberta. Article references and thanks: University of Calgary Archives, the City of Calgary and Calgary Board of Education.
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