Renfrew Community Information

Renfrew is a residential neighborhood in the north-east quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It is located south of the Trans-Canada Highway, and north of the inner city community of Bridgeland. To the east it is bordered by the Nose Hill Creek and the Deerfoot Trail and is separated from Crescent Heights to the west by Edmonton Trail.

The area consists mainly of residences with no major commercial or industrial facilities. There are some small businesses located along Edmonton Trail and 16th Avenue. There are no emergency health care facilities in the district, though several physician's offices have been established, and the Alberta Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Commission does have a treatment facility established in the neighbourhood.

Ukrainian Pioneer Park is located on the 600 block of 7th Avenue, and there are two Ukrainian churches in close proximity, a testament to early settlers of slavic origin who settled in the area. Other visible signs of this heritage include a monument to victims of genocide in Ukraine, erected by the banks of the Bow River in the adjacent community of Bridgeland.

The community itself was not developed until the 1940s. During the Second World War, the area was occupied by a Royal Canadian Air Force training base and airfield which also served as the Calgary airport. Once the airport was relocated from its original site (on the corner of present-day 6th Street and Regal Crescent), the area was developed for residential use.

A full-sized football field is located at Renfrew Athletic Park. Parkland and greenspace are not abundant with the exception of the school grounds, and the area adjacent to Nose Hill creek, which includes the McInnis & Holloway Memorial Forest still in its infancy. Other athletic facilities in addition to the schools include the Boys & Girls Club, a swimming pool, indoor skating rink, an outdoor skating rink at the community association building, and soccer fields located by the creek.

Several convenience stores are clustered in the western portion of the neighbourhood, including the Stanley Jones grocery, occupying one of the oldest surviving structures in the neighbourhood.

The neighbourhood is in direct proximity to several commercial zones, including shops along Edmonton Trail and Centre Street in adjacent Crescent Heights and Bridgeland, along 16th Avenue to the north and west, and across the bridge in Mayland Heights. The downtown core is only 3,000 metres from Renfrew and easily accessible by city transit, private automobile, or foot.

Several major schools are located in the district, including Colonel Macleod Junior High, St. Alphonsus Elementary/Junior High, Stanley Jones Elementary, and the former Renfrew Elementary.