Heritage Hall was designated a Canadian national historic site in 1987 because of its place in the development of vocational education in Western Canada.
Research and writing by Astrid Gagnier, Alyssa Athanasopoulos and Kris Ferguson.
About this episode
The future looked incredibly bright for Calgary in the early 1920's, and the construction of a majestic new home for the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) was a testament to that. Taking shape high above the bustling city, and built in the Collegiate Gothic style, the school’s castle-like qualities were unlike anything anyone had seen in these parts before.
A century later, Heritage Hall remains a crown jewel on the crest of the North Hill. Join Heritage Calgary CEO, Josh Traptow (AIM ’11), and Calgary historian and author David Finch as they sculpt out details of the structure, explore the inspiration behind its architectural origins, and reflect on what it meant to Calgarians 100 years ago.
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Photo gallery
Photographs courtesy of SAIT Archives. The feature image is of a class photo of a 1926 summer session at PITA.
Celebrating 100 years of history
To commemorate the first 100 years of the iconic Heritage Hall building, we released an intriguing eight-episode audio series and dedicated the Spring 2022 issue of LINK magazine that share the memories and stories from SAIT alumni, employees and neighbours.
Oki, Âba wathtech, Danit'ada, Tawnshi, Hello.
SAIT is located on the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of Treaty 7 which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Îyârhe Nakoda of Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney.
We are situated in an area the Blackfoot tribes traditionally called Moh’kinsstis, where the Bow River meets the Elbow River. We now call it the city of Calgary, which is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta.