Tuxedo Park School future use planning
Tuxedo Park School future use planning
The City is exploring future uses for the Tuxedo Park School site and how it can best serve the community.
Project overview
The City of Calgary is planning for the long-term future of the former Tuxedo Park School site, located at the corner of 1 Street N.E. and 28 Avenue N.E.
The site includes a heritage school building constructed in 1920 and formerly included a 1956 annex (building addition), which was demolished in 2025.
The City acquired the site in December 2022 after exercising its Right of First Refusal when the Calgary Board of Education declared the property surplus. Since then, The City’s focus has been on public safety, maintaining the site, and protecting the heritage building.
This page provides an overview of what is happening now, what work has been completed, and what to expect as planning continues.
What’s happening now (2026)
The City is currently in the early (Concept) stage of planning for the Tuxedo Park School site. This work focuses on understanding the site so informed decisions can be made about its future.
In this stage, The City is exploring how the site could serve the community over the long term, including potential for a mix of library space, housing, and public park space, as well as opportunities for adaptive reuse of the heritage building. At this stage, no decisions have been made about site layout or design.
To support this work, The City has engaged technical and planning consultants, including geotechnical and environmental consultants and a master planning consultant.
You may see activity on or near the site in 2026. This work relates to planning and technical studies and does not mean construction will begin soon.
What this activity means — and what it doesn’t
The activity taking place in 2026 is part of normal planning, feasibility, and maintenance work. It does not mean:
- Construction is about to begin
- Final development designs have been selected
- Funding for redevelopment has been approved
The purpose of this work is to build a solid technical foundation so The City can make informed decisions later.
Spring and Summer 2026 remedial work
As part of demolition close‑out and ongoing maintenance, The City will do seasonal repair work on the 1920 heritage schoolhouse. This is expected to take place in spring and summer 2026.
This work is expected to include:
- Minor masonry repairs to the schoolhouse parapets, and
- Site restoration measures such as sod or seed installation, subject to weather and site conditions.
This work focuses on safety, protecting the building, and maintaining the site. It does not involve building renovations, public access, or changes to the future use of the site.
What this activity means — and what it doesn’t
The activity taking place in 2026 is part of normal planning, feasibility, and maintenance work. It does not mean:
- Construction is imminent
- Final development designs have been selected
- Funding for redevelopment has been approved
The purpose of this work is to build a solid technical foundation so The City can make informed decisions later.
Best future use
The City is working on the future planning of the entire site, including how the 1920 schoolhouse can be conserved and reused.
As part of Concept stage planning, The City is exploring potential for a mix of library space, housing, and park space, along with options for adaptive reuse of the heritage building. No decisions have been made about site layout or design.
The site is well connected to transit. It is currently served by Bus Rapid Transit and is located near a future Green Line LRT corridor, which will be considered as part of long-term planning.
This work will take time to complete. As planning progresses, The City will share updates with the community and provide opportunities for engagement when there is meaningful information to bring forward.
Project update
What’s been completed
- Roof replacement and interior stabilization work to help protect the 1920 school building (completed 2025)
- Demolition of the 1956 building addition (completed 2025), including removal of hazardous materials and site clearing (backfill, utility removal/capping, and gravel placement)
- Replacement of the front doors of the 1920 school (completed 2025)
- The original doors were carefully removed and stored for possible future use
- Survey work to support planning (completed early spring 2026)
- Preliminary field investigations to support geotechnical and environmental studies (completed early spring 2026)
Current and upcoming site work (2026)
As part of ongoing maintenance and planning work, The City will complete seasonal repair and site restoration work in 2026 (timing subject to weather and site conditions).
This work is expected to include:
- Minor masonry repairs to the low walls (parapets) along the edge of the schoolhouse roof, including repairs at the southwest corner where the 1956 building was previously connected
- Restoring the field by adding seed or sod in areas that were disturbed
Traffic and parking counts may take place in late spring or early summer to help inform planning and understand how the site and surrounding area are used.
The site remains open for public use and is lightly maintained by Parks & Open Spaces.
Some minor ruts are currently visible on the playfield following spring technical field investigations. We are aware of these areas and will restore the field once all related work is complete. Visitors are encouraged to use caution when walking across the field.
The site is currently in a holding phase while planning continues. Interim site measures help maintain safety, reduce vandalism and security issues, and manage costs until longer-term decisions are made.
Project timeline
Planning for the future of the Tuxedo Park School site is being carried out in stages. Each stage builds on the previous one.
Timing is approximate and subject to future decisions and approvals.
The current work is focused on the Concept stage (2026–2027).
Future phases such as design, construction, and operation are not yet confirmed and will depend on future decisions, approvals, and funding.
Funding for future design, construction, or operation has not been approved and would require additional City Council consideration as part of a future budget cycle.
Planning and feasibility work, including technical studies, surveys, traffic and parking analysis, and adaptive master planning.
If future funding and approvals are secured, detailed design and formal approvals would occur during this stage.
Construction would only proceed following design completion, approvals, and funding authorization.
The earliest anticipated timeframe for any future facilities or end uses on the site to become operational is around 2030, subject to approvals and funding.
Questions?
We will be adding more information to this page as planning progresses, including answers to common questions about the project.
If you have a question or would like to share feedback, you can use the form below to contact the project team.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
What is the heritage significance of the site?
The original school built in 1920 is an example of the Bungalow school design and is very similar to the Cliff Bungalow School. Between 1913 and 1920, the Calgary School Board erected a series of "bungalow" schools in response to Calgary's rapid growth. The buildings were intended to be converted into four-unit apartment buildings when larger schools were built. Several of these bungalow schools continue in use today (Cliff Bungalow School is an example).
The original Tuxedo Park School site is identified by the City’s Heritage group as:
- A well-preserved example of a later phase of bungalow school design - a design unique to Calgary and 1 of only 4 remaining (Riverside – CBE, Tuxedo Park – City, Cliff Bungalow – City).
- A community landmark and a well-preserved example of a later phase of bungalow school design - a design unique to Calgary, in the community.
City Policy advocates for creative and adaptive reuse of City-owned heritage buildings.
The annex was not built until 1956-57 and has no historic value.
What are the benefits of demolishing the annex?
Demolition will result in several benefits:
- Reduce security and safety issues at the site and avoid escalating security costs associated with empty buildings.
- Reduce further deterioration of the heritage building due to the attachment to the annex building.
- Reduce carrying costs for the site.
- Allow for the comprehensive future development of the site.
Why would you not keep the basketball court since children are using it?
There are several reasons why the basketball court is included in the demolition:
The demolition recommendation was based on a thorough assessment of the buildings and amenities on the site. The assessment included both internal specialists and an external consultant. The basketball court will continue to deteriorate and over time will likely become unusable and unsafe.
Even a small amenity such as the basketball court requires an assigned operations and maintenance budget to ensure it is maintained to meet The City’s high standards for usability and safety. There is no budget to maintain and operate the basketball court.
Decisions about park amenities and other infrastructure are based on future use planning by City business units and services lines. If a need is identified, construction and operations and maintenance budgets can be requested. This is important to ensure City budgets are used to deliver high value amenities and infrastructure to meet the needs and desires of citizens now and into the future. Amenity decisions are seldom made on a one-off basis and there are currently no plans to operate this amenity.
In addition, not only may the amenity’s condition be impacted by the demolition activities, but it will eventually have to be removed to make way for the master planned future development.
With respect to the parking lot, we are not planning to demolish it at the same time as the annex. It will be used for staging during demolition and can continue to be used until the site is redeveloped.
Why would you not finish the demolition site with grass rather than gravel?
The site will be finished with gravel and leveled off to ensure it remains in a presentable state until future construction starts. Gravel has no maintenance costs whereas sod requires maintenance and irrigation, both of which need a budget that we do not have. We also cannot ask for a long-term project budget until the next budget cycle — 2027-2030.
As part of the future state investigation, we must take a holistic approach and go through the proper process. If irrigation installed now does not align to a future design park space, it may have to be removed at an additional cost.
Will you keep the community association informed as the project progresses?
Yes. We have a communications plan for the full project. We are also aware that this community is experiencing construction fatigue, and we will do what we can to minimize this fatigue. We are committed to making sure we inform the community association, in advance, of upcoming work once we are certain of the schedule.
Following that, once we have a future use and feasibility study approved, we will inform the association and share that with the community including next steps and any opportunities for formal engagement.
Will you do engagement on the future use?
Once a future project begins, we will consider the need for community input or if our efforts will focus on informing community members about the plan. In the meantime, until there is budget and direction from Council to start developing the site, engagement does not make sense as we won’t know what input we need.