McDougall School
- Construction year
- 1908
- Architect
- Hopkins, Edward Collins
- Builder
- Unknown
- Style
- Renaissance Revival
- Typology
- School (Normal)
- Development era
- 1906 to 1913 (Pre WWI Boom, Age of Optimism)
- Designation
- Inventory listing only
This imposing downtown school, the first building of its size and quality in Calgary, was erected in 1906-08 by the Provincial Department of Public Works to serve as Alberta's first normal school for the education of teachers. It was designed by Edward Collins Hopkins of Calgary, who served as architect for the Department of Public Works between 1906-07, and was completed under the supervision of A.M. Jeffers, architect of the Legislature Building. It was one of the first buildings designed by the Provincial Public Works Department, and demonstrates the importance given to education by the newly established provincial government. The cornerstone was laid in 1907 by Premier Rutherford and the school dedicated by him a year later. In 1922, when the building was taken over by the Calgary Board of Education for use as an elementary school, it was renamed McDougall School in honour of Albert
Character-defining elements: The character-defining elements that define the McDougall School include such features as: - heavy use of sandstone on exterior facade; - elements embodying the Beaux-Arts style, such as its symmetrical facade, cornice, four giant order composite columns flanked by two pilasters, horizontal stone banding between the first and second stories, fenestration pattern and style, ornate stone window trim with some variation on each storey, rusticated masonry on the first floor, arched recessed doorways on main floor; - entablature bearing the words "McDOUGALL SCHOOL"; - circular tablets bearing the n
Source: The City of Calgary Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources, entry 246.