St. Patrick's Church, Lethbridge

In 1887 the small community of Coalbank built a small sandstone church which they called St. Patrick's, on land donated by the North West Coal and Navigation Co. This church was blessed by Rev. Albert Lacombe O.M.I. in August 1887. In Sept 1888 Fr. Leonard Van Tighem moved to Lethbridge as parish priests and built a new sanctuary for the church and a convent for the Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus, who came to Lethbridge in 1891. In 1892 he planted tress around the church, the first trees to be planted in Lethbridge. In 1894 he extended the building. On August 25, 1895 the original St. Patrick's church was consecrated by Bishop Grandin, and was said to be the first church consecrated in the Diocese of St. Albert [?] A new building was erected in 1903. Bishop Frederick Henry closed the church in 2011, in a process that the Vatican has subsequently ruled to be invalid.