St. Joachim's is Edmonton's oldest Roman Catholic parish,
dating back to
1854 when Father
Albert Lacombe converted a small building within Fort Edmonton
into a chapel. It was later given the name of St. Joachim by Bishop
Alexander Antoine Taché.
The parish remained within the Fort until 1877 when it was rebuilt
at 121
Street and Jasper Avenue on land donated by Malcolm Groat.
During this period there was no single resident parish priest with
various clergymen taking up the task at different times. In 1883,
Father Henri Grandin became the first resident priest. In 1883 he purchased
some land from the Hudson's Bay Company and in 1886 had completed
work on a third St. Joachim's Church. Grandin left the parish in1889 and it was
presided over by several priests over the next
decade, including Father Lacombe.
Father Hippolyte Leduc took over the church in 1896.
Under
his direction in the summer of 1898 construction of the
existing church at 9920-110 Street began. The completed building,
which opened on December 8, 1999, was unmistakably Roman
Catholic in design but unique for Alberta-the building
materials, such as interior wood paneling and the use of side
pinnacles, were more common of Quebec architecture. St. Joachim's was designated a provincial historic resource in
1978.
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