Cliff Bungalow - Mission is one of Calgary's oldest communities but it wasn't always known by this name. Pere Lacombe (better known as Father Lacombe), an Oblate priest, went to Ottawa in 1883 to obtain a land grant for the Catholic Church "mission" that had been established in our community in 1875, the year the North West Mounted Police came to Calgary to established a fort. The land grant was east of 4th Street and south of 17th Avenue SW. When this area was developed, the streets and avenues were given French names, many related to the Catholic Church.

The area became a village named Rouleauville after the prominent French-speaking family of Rouleau. Charles Borromee Rouleau was a stipendiary magistrate when he arrived in 1886 and a year later he was named a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories. He became a member of the territorial council where he was a strong supporter of French-language rights. He was later joined by his brother Dr. Edouard Hector Rouleau who helped establish the Holy Cross Hospital in 1891 and who was the first president of Calgary's St. Jean Baptiste Society. Dr. Rouleau lived in the house located across from St. Mary's High School at 114 - 18 Avenue SW.

The area west of 4th Street and south of 17th Avenue SW was granted for CPR as part of the deal with the federal government to build the railway to the Pacific. When this area was developed, the streets and avenues were given English names, many after governor - generals.

Despite the early intentions to establish a French-speaking community; the large influx of English-speaking settlers via the CPR was to change the character of the community. In 1907, Rouleauville was annexed to Calgary and the French street names became the current numbers. The English street names also became the current numbers.

Mission District http://www.cliffbungalowmission.ca
Other buildings that are still standing from this era are St. Mary's Parish Hall, now the Alberta Ballet School, Sacred Heart Convent -1893, parts of the Holy Cross Hospital, now the Holy Cross Centre. With the boon years before the First World War the Mission District experience residential development and many walk up apartments were built to house the growing number single men till they were able to afford to bring their families. Flexford House [1912] is an example of many still surviving apartments from that period.

Over the years and with close proximity to downtown many pre First World War houses were demolished to make way for High Rise Apartments and Condominiums and now the Mission District with its street lined with matured trees gives a pleasant ambiance to the mix of the old with the new.

Holy Cross Centre

The Holy Cross Centre is located on 2nd St SW and 24 Ave SW and is only a couple minutes walk from Westways, just across Aberhart Park. When the Provincial Government in the mid nineties decided to close the Holy Cross Hospital, a group of doctors decided to buy the complex and develop the site to cater for medical clinics and holistic medicine. Now, several years later, the Centre has a wide variety of general and specialist clinics, learning facilities and catering outlet.

Below is a list of some of these facilities:

• Mount Royal College – Holy Cross Campus  
• Holy Cross Surgical Centre
• Calgary Pilates Centre They have moved to the corner of 4th St and 25 Ave SW, still very close to us.
  

  The Calgary Pilates Centre's mission is to empower you, the client, to take an active and informed role in your own health and well-being. Through the philosophies handed down by Joseph Pilates, you will learn to more fully integrate your body and mind.

• University of Calgary
• Integrative Health Institute
  Your trusted source for evidence-based information about complimentary and alternative medicine.
• Rideau Hearing Services
• C-era Cardiovascular – evaluation and risk assessment