OLD COLEMAN HIGH SCHOOL
Mayfair Avenue and Second Street, Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, T0K, Canada
Formally Recognized:
1986/03/06
Other Name(s)
OLD COLEMAN HIGH SCHOOL
Coleman High School/Crowsnest Museum
Coleman School
Coleman High School
Coleman Central High School
Links and documents
n/a
Construction Date(s)
1936/01/01 to 1937/01/01
Listed on the Canadian Register:
2005/05/18
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Old Coleman High School is a two-storey, brick and wood frame structure in a mid-century neo-classical style, located on six lots on 18th Avenue in the community of Coleman, in the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Old Coleman High School lies in its importance as an educational and social institution in the Crowsnest Pass, and in its representation of the standardized school architecture in Alberta in the interwar period.
The International Cola and Coke Company had created the Town of Coleman in 1903. Before 1937, high school classes were taught in neighbouring Blairmore or rental locations throughout Coleman, but the maturing student population heightened the demand for classroom space and the Coleman School Board decided to construct its own, central, secondary school. Unlike other high schools in the Crowsnest Pass, the Coleman High School had an auditorium; this permitted extra-curricular activities and community services, such as night school classes in English for the large immigrant community. The Coleman High School continued to operate until 1963.
The Old Coleman High School is also significant as an example of the standard building plans used by the province in the interwar period. The school was built according to the Department of Education's Plan No. SP-1108; this combined elements of Modern, classical revival and Collegiate Gothic into an appropriately low-budget but not completely styleless building in a design recognizable as a mid-century educational institution. The High School thus reflects the provincial government's control over school design and construction in rural Alberta in the first half of the twentieth century.
Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 1305)
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Old Coleman High School include features of the standard school design SP-118, such as:
- form, scale and massing;
- Modernist lack of decorative elements;
- red brick facade with decorative designs above the upper level windows;
-a stone string course at the level of the second floor windows and a stone capping the building, which suggests a cornice;
- central entrance tower typical of Gothic revival style academic buildings;
- paired double-hung windows;
- the original school yard remains intact allowing for unimpeded views of all four building elevations.
Original remaining elements and fittings of the interior of the Old Coleman High School such as:
- the staircase;
- flooring;
- ceiling;
- the auditorium and stage;
- doors;
- light fixtures;
- baseboards and trim.
Recognition
Jurisdiction
Alberta
Recognition Authority
Province of Alberta
Recognition Statute
Historical Resources Act
Recognition Type
Provincial Historic Resource
Recognition Date
1986/03/06
Historical Information
Significant Date(s)
1936/01/01 to 1963/01/01
Theme - Category and Type
- Building Social and Community Life
- Education and Social Well-Being
Function - Category and Type
Current
- Leisure
- Museum
Historic
- Education
- Primary or Secondary School
Architect / Designer
n/a
Builder
n/a
Additional Information
Location of Supporting Documentation
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 1305)
Cross-Reference to Collection
Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier
4665-0534
Status
Published
Related Places
n/a