The site is a Provincial and Municipal Historic Resource, and home to the Edmonton Public School Board's archives and museum.

The smooth-finished wooden building featured a porch, double doors, eight large windows and 10-foot (3.0 m) ceilings.

In 1904 R. J. Mason[1] received the contract to build the school, and construction began later in the year with Governor General Lord Minto laying the cornerstone, and construction completed and opened on 1 September 1905, the same day the province of Alberta entered Confederation.

[2] With dwindling enrollment in the downtown Edmonton area, totaling 59 in its final year, the McKay Avenue School was closed on June 30, 1983.

[5] Following flooding in February 2013, the McKay School was found have significant structural damage requiring $2.4-million in restoration.