Description of Historic Place

St. Anthony's Seraphic College is an institutional complex situated on two generously sized lots in Edmonton's Baldwin neighbourhood. The complex consists of an original three-storey building with a flat roof erected in 1925 and subsequent additions in 1931, 1934, and 1946. The original building features Gothic-arched windows on the ground floor and a metal cornice around the roofline. The 1931 addition is distinguished by its projecting entryway surmounted by a stepped parapet featuring a niche containing a statue of St. Anthony. The 1934 construction includes the addition of two storeys to the single-storey, east end of the 1931 addition and a new entrance bay attached to the original 1925 building. The 1946 gymnasium is a two-storey structure with a broad gable roof attached to the west of the complex.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of St. Anthony's Seraphic College lies in its association with the establishment of the Franciscan order in western Canada and the development of Catholic higher education in Alberta.

The arrival into Edmonton of the Canadian Northern Railway in 1905 and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1908 stimulated the expansion of industrial development and population growth in the city's northeast. Many of the new arrivals to the area were working class immigrants from eastern European backgrounds. Recognizing the need for spiritual guidance for this community and others northeast of Edmonton, the francophone bishop of St. Albert, Emile Legal, solicited help from the Franciscan order in Montreal. In 1908, the first Franciscans arrived in Alberta and began their missionary work to Edmonton and its northeast environs from their base in the settlement of Lamoureux, near Fort Saskatchewan. The following year, the Franciscans relocated their mission to northeast Edmonton, where the need for clergy was more urgent.

The initially humble foundations of the mission - a rudimentary friary - grew over the years into an institutional complex that included the St. Francis of Assisi Church (1911) and St. Anthony's Seraphic College (1925), among other buildings. The college was the major Franciscan training college in western Canada, established to prepare young men for the priesthood. The site was a heartland for Catholic spiritual life in the district, including at one point a church, college, friary, nearby parish hall, and gymnasium. The St. Anthony's complex was also the seat of the Major Superior of the Ecclesiastical Province of Christ the King in Western Canada. The college continued to function until 1970, when it was converted into a private boarding school.

Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 2182)

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of St. Anthony's Seraphic College include such features as:

1925 original building:
- mass, form, and scale;
- flat roof with roofline cornice and parapet;
- red-brick exterior and other brick elements, including stringcourses, Gothic arches around ground floor windows, and single vertical course of bricks above basement, second- and third-storey windows;
- corbelled chimney;
- concrete keystones and sills;
- fenestration pattern.

1931 addition:
- mass, form, and scale;
- flat roof;
- red-brick exterior and other brick elements, including stringcourses, pilasters, decorative patterns, Gothic arches around ground floor windows, and frames around other windows;
- concrete keystones, sills, stringcourses, pilaster caps, and decorative squares;
- projecting entrance bay;
- double door entryway with fanlight, flanking brick pilasters, crowning concrete arch topped with a Latin cross, and background concrete decorative elements;
- stepped parapet with niche containing statue of St. Anthony.

1934 addition to east end of 1931 addition:
- mass, form, and scale;
- flat roof;
- red-brick exterior and other brick elements, including stringcourses, pilasters, decorative patterns, and frames around windows;
- concrete sills, pilaster caps, and decorative squares;
- fenestration pattern.

1934 entrance addition:
- mass, form, and scale;
- flat roof;
- red-brick exterior and other brick elements, including stringcourses, Gothic arches around ground floor windows, and single vertical course of bricks above basement windows;
- concrete keystones, sills, and formee cross above entrance;
- stepped battlement;
- fenestration pattern.

1946 gymnasium:
- mass, form, and scale;
- gable roof;
- red-brick exteriors and other brick elements, including stringcourses and pilasters;
- fenestration pattern.

Interior of the institutional complex:
- original interior elements, including flooring, mouldings, trims, doors, fixtures, and staircases.