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St. Joachim Church
Edmonton
Other Names:
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St. Joachim's Roman Catholic Church
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
St. Joachim Church is a red-brick church completed in 1899 which features a symmetrical front facade, gabled roof, and a central tower flanked by smaller corner towers. The design of St. Joachim Church is influenced by late nineteenth century French-Canadian church architecture. St. Joachim Church is located at 9924 - 110 Street NW in the neighbourhood of Oliver.
Heritage Value
St. Joachim Church is significant for its association with the establishment and development of the Catholic community in Edmonton. It is also significant as an example of late nineteenth-century French-Canadian religious architecture. Today it is one of the oldest churches in Edmonton, and among the best preserved.
St. Joachim Church symbolizes the social and cultural atmosphere of Edmonton during the early settlement years of the community, and the persistence of religious organizations rooted in the city’s earliest development. St. Joachim’s roots reach back to the 1850s when members of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate established St. Joachim's mission at Fort Edmonton. By the late 1890s, members of the missionary had already constructed three other churches across Edmonton as their reach continued to expand with a growing city. St. Joachim Church was constructed in 1898-1899 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate to keep pace with their growing congregation and community and became the heart of the Catholic neighbourhood in Oliver. St. Joachim Church also supported a growing anglophone community in central Edmonton, offering services in both English and French before St. Joseph’s Cathedral was constructed in 1925.
Modeled after the late nineteenth-century French-Canadian style churches, St. Joachim Church examplifes French-Canadian ecclesiastical architecture through its brick construction, symmetrical front facade, gabled roof, central tower flanked by smaller corner towers, and its fenestration pattern with round-arched windows and stained glass. As a direct descendant of the earliest parish community in Edmonton, St. Joachim Church is a direct link between the missionary efforts of the order of Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Western Canada. As the oldest existing Roman Catholic Church in the city, St. Joachim Church strongly represents the rich history of Roman Catholicism in Edmonton.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements, as expressed in the form, massing and materials of St. Joachim Church, include:
Exterior
-mass, form, scale, and style;
-red brick construction with stone stringcourses, keystones, and trim;
-tall central tower with a double lantern belfry featuring four large corner pinnacles and surmounted by a galvanized steel steeple;
-two smaller side towers crowned by smaller spires;
-non-structural buttressing between the round-arched aisle windows;
-corbelling under the cornice; and
-fenestration pattern and style, including oeil-de-boeuf window on front facade, round-arched windows, and painted glass windows.
Interior
-window tracery;
-segmented nave barrel vault sheathed with wood panelling and tracery;
-semi-circular nave arcading;
-perimeter wainscot and window trim;
-elaborate wood stair to choir loft;
-one-storey brick vestry on building's north-west corner with lancet windows and east entry door; and
-original interior details, including central altar, painting above altar, lateral altars, lectern with a wineglass shape, organ, Stations of the Cross, pews, statuary, original doors, and vestry cabinet.
Location
| Street Address: |
9924 - 110 Street NW |
| Community: |
Edmonton |
| Boundaries: |
Lot 61 and Pt. Lot 62, Block 10, Plan B |
| Contributing Resources: |
Building
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ATS Legal Description:
PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
B
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10
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61 and Part 62
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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53.538083 |
-113.510798 |
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NAD83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Local Governments (AB) |
| Designation Status: |
Municipal Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
2018/01/23 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1898 to 1899 |
| Period of Significance: |
1898 to 1899 |
| Theme(s): |
Building Social and Community Life : Religious Institutions
Peopling the Land : Settlement
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| Historic Function(s): |
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| Current Function(s): |
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4664-0099 |
| Designation File: |
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| Related Listing(s): |
4665-0515
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| Heritage Survey File: |
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
City of Edmonton (POSSE: 000659436-005 |
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