Ernest Manning HS 1963-2011

They demolished the building but for some reason left these odd remains behind, little hints of what was. Why in the world, when clearing away something so huge, would they fail to complete the job? No matter I guess. Do folks walking by headed to the trains ask, “what stood in this spot?” Here, it’s partial remains of a parking lot, some concrete steps nearby and a few trees that once fronted the building we’ll be chatting about. And that’s it my friends.

We’re at a place with an intimate connection to the person writing this, the site of the original Ernest Manning High School in Southwest Calgary, now an empty field. Your author attended, so did the kids and a sister. Today, BIGDoer’s World Headquarters is close by. I swore the day I left I never wanted to see that damned school again. Ever! Yet, here I am, and have been for the last quarter century, a hop, skip and jump away. Funny how that worked out. And while the name lives on in a new replacement school a couple neighbourhoods over, for all of us alumni who knew “old” Manning, it’s gone.

In spite of my close proximity, the memories are so far removed in time that admittedly they don’t always register when passing it by. But this fine evening, it all came flooding back. I’m taken back to grade ten, it’s the early eighties and I’m either goofing off, putting a half baked effort forward in class or skipping school entirely. One thing is certain learning was the last thing on the mind. My friend with that old rolling death trap of a car with tail fins used to park right there…other friends who were smokers (so nearly everyone) used to do it on those steps (doing a pointy motion). Wow, almost forty years ago I stood on this very spot.

Old Manning dates from 1963. That era didn’t seem to be a high point in architecture, with it looking as much a prison as a school. Picture a long near-featureless blocky mass, lacking character and full-on utilitarian in form. It closed in 2011 on the completion of the new school.

If not for the southwest leg of the LRT, Manning would probably still be standing. While nothing to look at, it was still serviceable and not in bad shape. The rail line, underground here, came through a few years after the school closed. Westbook Station, named after the nearby neighbourhood, straddles the north end of the property. A busy walkway from a nearby street brings many folks past the things examined here.

The rest of the former school grounds are unkempt and in many places a quagmire of mud or a weed infested mess. The city’s looking to have it developed, perhaps waiting till more favourable market conditions. Till then it’s a bit of an eyesore and sometimes homeless camp.

Members of the famous pro-wrestling Hart Family attended school here. You author was in the same grades as Owen, but never crossed paths. He must have been in the non-slacker class. One year as a charity event, they put on a “Stampede Wresting” show in the school auditorium and everyone came. Flooding back, it’s memories of Honky Tonk Wayne, Kerry Brown, the Hart Boys and most memorable of all a giant of a man and mega-heel Mike Shaw (later Mukhan Singh of the Karachi Vice stable). Shaw could cause a near riot with his cheating antics and shit-disturbing ways. No one could work the crowd better.

A bit to the east, and sharing the athletic fields with Ernest Manning, was Melville Scott Junior High (also Plains Indian Cultural Survival School), of which your author also attended. It was torn down a few years before Manning. God, I hated that place too. School never was good fit for yours truly,

Manning was laid out as a square with one long wing. It was two stories, except at the north end where the slope of the land allowed it three. There was a central courtyard to the building which oddly I don’t ever remember visiting. Enrolment in the 1970s and 1980s was some thousand to fifteen hundred I think. By the time the kids attended it was in the high hundreds.

Across the street is a series of low rise apartments. Should a stoner need a bag of weed, this was where it could be found. Convenient! Bootleg liquor for those underage and looking for a good time (so all of us) was also offered.

Ernest Manning’s Football team was the Griffins inspired by that mythical Lion/Eagle beast of old.

Random memories: some guy getting duct-tapped (and I mean head to toe) to a light standard by the front entrance during frosh. The dope smoking art teacher who always vanished soon after assignments were given and the wild clay or paint fights that would break out during his absence. Making throwing stars in welding class and getting visit from the police. Skipping school at Westbrook Mall and being a terror (more cops). Hacking the PA and soon after it’s a visit to the principal’s office. Breaking into the basement and wandering the conduit tunnels there…and getting caught. Similarly finding our way into the “confiscation” room and making off with all kinds of treasures. Fries and gravy at the cafeteria, the teen’s go-to meal and one always shared with friends (even if you didn’t want to).

On a plaque that once stood at school’s entrance…

“Ernest Manning High School was officially opened May 28 1963 by Honourable EC Manning, premier of Alberta.”

Manning was a long time in office, his term stretching from 1943-1968 for the now defunct and once juggernaut Social Credit Party.

Seen off in the distance in the first photo, it’s some relatively new condo towers very near the site of the old Westgate Hotel (16 and they never IDed me). That arch-roof building is the Westbrook LRT Station spoken of earlier. See the bunny?

Reverse view, it’s mostly field and good old 17th Avenue Southwest. Micky D’s was a popular hang out then and is still there. An arcade at the “Colonnade” was always jam packed even with school in and inside it was the din of pinballs and air thick with smoke, not all of it from cigarettes. Seems to me it was a front for drugs too and didn’t last long. There was a second arcade at the far end of the mall but they often kicked us troublemakers out. Can you spot the BIGDoer-mobile?

And the grocery store next door where we lifted what ever wasn’t nailed down, often brazenly in front of other customers. Back then the rap sheet was long. Lock up the silver, that yellow-jacketed BIGDoer guy is coming over!

Your author’s sister attended Manning a couple years before and looking at yearbook photos from then, she did so with the cast of That ’70s Show. The kid’s time there in the early 2000s was pretty uneventful (thank God my ways didn’t become theirs). Seems all four of us over many decades shared a few teachers too.

While the school stood, your author would have been elated to see it demolished. Hated, hated, hated going to class. Then on seeing it actually happen (pictures somewhere) a complete change of heart. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad. Case in point the memories shared here, of a little shithead wanna-be bad ass who did his best to non conform and self destruct, that are kinda funny.

So I stood there for a moment expecting to hear the last bell, but was met with silence. Still not moving and looking as though some weirdo with camera in hand, there I was lost in thought. My time at Manning was short and now with it gone, there a strange tinge of sadness. Like something’s now missing.

They’re saying…

”You are my Atlas Obscura anytime I google something I am looking for, and you guys are there. Plus you have given me a ton of places I want to check out. Thank you!” Lori Boschman.

Roaming Calgary…
Super S Drugs – a hang out long ago.
Last Photos of the Enoch Sales House – demolition by neglect.
Sunalta – another school attended by your author.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date of Adventure: July, 2018.
Location: Calgary, AB.
Article references and thanks: City of Calgary, Calgary Board of Education, Calgary Transit.

Where (old) Ernest Manning High School stood.

There’s these concrete steps.

And remains of a parking lot, but little else.

Here’s where you went when looking to “buy”.