Central Collegiate School

Before 1908 high school students in Calgary attended City Hall School on 7th avenue east. When it was completed in 1907, it was the most modern school in Calgary, featuring a self-contained heating plant and indoor plumbing. It is perhaps the most picturesque sandstone building in Calgary with its Castles like roofline and ornate carvings. It may not be surprising since Robert G. Gordon designed it. It has a clock tower and grand arched entrances look closely, and you’ll notice one entry is marked for boys, the other for girls. He adapted the Scottish Baronial Style for the eight-room sandstone school, the most detailed and ornate of the sandstone public schools. Pre-First World War population boom meant that soon it required an addition to keep up with increasing enrollment. Subsequently, a five-room addition was added to match the existing structure. In 1918 the school was simply renamed Central High School. In 1940 Egyptian Revival Style gymnasium was added. Some notable alumni include Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker, Peter Lougheed, Premier of Alberta from 1971-1985, Canadian Flag designer Dr. George Stanley and MLA Sheldon Chumir. Enrollment had drastically declined by the time the school closed in 1965. The Central High was briefly elementary before it became Central Special Class School for students with developmental disabilities in 1972. Shortly after, it was renamed again after Dr. Carl Safran, an educational phycologist who was Chief Superintendent from 1972-1977 and was a crucial player in the development of special education in Calgary. Now a part of the adjoining Calgary Board of Education offices, the school has been carefully restored and retains its original stairwells skylights and dark wood windows. 

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