Inventory Updates: St. Ann's Presbytery

On December 11, 2020 the Heritage Calgary board approved the following site to be updated to the Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.

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St Ann’s Presbytery - 922–21 AV SE (Ramsay) Year Built: 1913

Evaluated as a City Wide Historic Resource

St. Ann’s Presbytery symbolizes the early influence on Calgary’s Roman Catholic institutions by religious orders that originated in France. The presbytery (a term equivalent to rectory and preferred by Roman Catholics) was constructed as a residence for Les Pretres de Sainte-Marie du Tinchebray (The Priests of Saint Mary of Tinchebray). This teaching order, like the presbytery’s Second Empire style, originated in France. (Symbolic Value, Community Significance)

The building has institutional value for its association with significant Catholic institutions in the city, including the Tinchebray Fathers, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary, the once-expansive St. Ann’s Parish, and the orders of nuns who used the building as a convent (the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peterborough and the Ursuline Sisters of Calgary) and as a monastery (the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood). (Institution Value, Community Significance)

The building has person value though Father Albert Rouleau who lived here ca. 1927–32. He was the first Calgary-born person to become a Catholic priest. Rouleau’s father, E.H. Rouleau, and his uncle, C.B. Rouleau, were the namesakes of the Village of Rouleau (now the Mission district). (Person Value, Community Significance)·      

St. Ann’s Presbytery is valued as a rare or unique example of Second Empire style in the city. (Style Value, Community Significance)

The building is highly visible on a corner lot. It is part of a contiguous set of current and former Roman Catholic institutional buildings, including St. Anne’s Church, church hall, and rectory to the west and St. Anne’s Academic Centre across 9 ST SE to the east. (Landmark Value, Community Significance)

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