A couple of days ago I wrote about a building near my home which has no name. It is a three-storey brick building on a large city lot in a residential neighbourhood, but there is nothing to indicate what it is used for.
Yesterday I took another walk in the area and it seems clear that it is somehow related to the Catholic church buildings that are on the same block.
Confirmation of this association is provided by the ornamental models of a monk and of Mary that are near the buildings but they were too far away for me to get pictures of them.
I walked around the mystery building to see if I had missed something and, although I didn’t find anything to tell me what it was, I did realize that included in the same fenced area is a large, newer, building that seems to be a residence of some sort. There is also a fenced-in play area for children. I wondered why there is an odd double fence around the play area on the south east side, but that just adds to the mystery.
The building with the red roof has a large driveway with a very big sliding gate that limits access. The whole compound is surrounded by a six-foot chain-link fence. In Edmonton, by-laws state that fences in front of residences should be no higher than four feet, but they can be six feet high in the back. It is hard to say which is the front or back here, and equally hard to know if this is considered residential or not. Regardless, the fence goes all the way around.
The alley between 92nd and 91st streets is at the east side of the older brick building and it is also the access to the large white building and parking area.
The building with the red roof has a long wall on 92nd Street with no windows, and I wondered why.
I will see what I can find out from the city’s website, but in the mean time this is what I have. It could be a residence for retired priests and/or nuns, or it could be a hospital/hospice for people associated with the church. Neither of those ideas explains the children’s play area, though, so I continue to wonder what it is used for and why it is without any name or signage.
Snowbird of Paradise 
Very curious!
By that I mean the playground within this complex. Interesting!
I agree. Interesting and bewildering.
Hmm, the more you learn, the less you know. Certainly mysterious!
I just checked the city’s property assessment website and it is not listed as a school. The older brick building is designated as a “Downtown Special Area” and the assessed value of the building is $2,090,000.
“Downtown Special Area”, well that clarifies things, eh? And, as here, assessed value is much less than actual market value?
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Yes, the market value is usually higher. And that is the value for only the Victorian building.
Anne, if you or someone you know or is on good terms with an attorney who deals with property transactions maybe they could check the deeds office to see who the current owners are?
We used to do this when we were in real estate.
Hmmm. Good idea, Ark. I’ll see what I can do.