Century-old building that was 1st Catholic school on Edmonton's south side for sale at $6.6M

A 116-year-old building that was the first Catholic school on Edmonton's south side is on the market for $6.6 million.

The St. Anthony building on the corner of 84th Ave. and 104th St. in Old Strathcona was first built in 1906. In recent decades, Edmonton Catholic Schools has used it as a meeting centre, storage facility and archives.

The district is now selling the property as it consolidates six administrative buildings and plans to move staff to the new Lumen Christi Catholic Education Centre on 50th St. this summer.

"We admit, it was not an easy decision to list St. Anthony for sale, but given our fiscal reality, the costs associated with operating and maintaining a building that is over 100 years old, it does not justify keeping it," spokesperson Christine Meadows said.

In the 1890s, Catholic students who lived south of the North Saskatchewan River attended a one-room school within St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church.

According to the school district's records, Father Albert Lacombe named the parish, quoting an old church tradition that "a parish named after St. Anthony will never want for money."

As the population grew, more space was needed and a school was built, with the first floor and basement completed in 1906. When it opened, it became the first Catholic school in what was then Strathcona.

Helen Scarlett, Edmonton Catholic Schools' archives co-ordinator, said the building received a series of additions over the years before closing to students due to low enrolment in 1973. 

Scarlett, who has worked there since 2003, knows the building's every nook and cranny, from the original air vents and separate entrances for boy and girls to the markings students etched on bricks outside.

A plaque from the city acknowledges its history but the building does not have historical designation.

Additions partially obscure the original school, so people walking by might not notice its age.

"Because of that, they don't really realize the rich history of the school, how long it's actually been here and how core of an element it was to Strathcona," Scarlett said.

Scarlett is collecting stories of the building from residents and plans to memorialize its history in some way.

Jandip Deol, with the commercial real estate company Avison Young, said a wide array of developers and builders have expressed interest in the St. Anthony site and the company is in talks with a few parties.