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Nat Christie Centre

The Nat Christie Centre, the Calgary home of the Alberta Ballet has made a full transition from its original purpose, an educational facility, to transportation hub and back to a school once more.

Built in 1905, the building was constructed as a parish hall for St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. It included a 500-seat theatre, which was used by community groups for concerts, theatrical performances and musical recitals. In addition, the church held boy's school classes in the basement from 1907 to 1910.

The building was sold to the Canadian Northern Railway in 1911 for $ 60,000 CDN. Surrounding property was also bought up by the railway company, with plans to tear down the hall and replace it with a structure more suitable to their needs. Lack of funds prevented reconstruction, however, and the existing building was kept intact. With renovations of a wooden platform and track bed, the first train arrived in Calgary in 1913, with the first passenger trains coming a little more than a year later. Trains continued to come through the station until 1971 when it was closed permanently.

The structure stood vacant until 1979, when the City of Calgary purchased it, designating the former parish hall a provincial historic building. Five years later, Calgary City Ballet, now Alberta Ballet, took up residence with funding from the Nat Christie Foundation and set out to restore the structure to suit their purpose. Despite a devastating fire, renovations were completed in 1987. These included two dance studios and a ballet wardrobe department.

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