Two new middle school names to honour Pratt, Lougheed
Two new Calgary middle schools, in the communities of Saddle Ridge and Rocky Ridge/ Royal Oak, will bear the names of prominent late Calgarians.
The Calgary Board of Education announced Tuesday that the Saddle Ridge school will honour former premier Peter Lougheed, while Rocky Ridge/ Royal Oak will be home to the William D. Pratt School in the northwest. A committee of school board trustees, parents, community representatives and administrators recommended the names.
“The CBE is proud to celebrate the legacies of Peter Lougheed and William Pratt, and the important difference that each of them made to our city and our province,” the board stated.
The Peter Lougheed School in Calgary’s northeast honours Alberta’s 10th premier, who served from 1971- 1985. Lougheed also played football for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos and held bachelor of arts and law degrees from the University of Alberta and a master of business administration from the Harvard Business School.
The board of education honoured him with its first Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2002. Lougheed, who died in 2012, has previously been honoured with having the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Kananaskis and the Peter Lougheed Centre, an acute care hospital in Calgary, named after him.
The board described Pratt as an “Alberta maverick.” Pratt designed and built Heritage Park and was the general manager of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.
His achievements also included building the track and grandstand and serving in the roles of project manager of what was then known as the Olympic Saddledome and president and chief operating officer of the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Pratt, who died in 1999, received numerous awards including the Order of Canada, Olympic Order, Province of Alberta Award of Excellence and Canada 125 Medal.
The schools will open in fall 2016 with a capacity of 900 students each.