Janet Steffenhagen
Vancouver community rallies to save oldest school
Students, parents and teachers gathered outside Vancouver’s oldest school building Wednesday to protest demolition plans.
The B.C. government says it won’t spend $625,000 to restore the 114-year-old building that has stood empty and covered by a tarp alongside Sir Guy Carleton elementary since it was damaged by fire in 2006. Instead, the Education Ministry has offered $75,000 to have the structure removed.
Adrian Dix, the MLA for Vancouver Kingsway, attended the rally and described the two-room schoolhouse as a city and provincial landmark.
“East-end students and residents have been lobbying successive education ministers for over two years to fulfil their obligations to repair the school,” the NDP member said in a release. “Instead, the B.C. Liberals are offering to destroy, not preserve, an asset to the public education system.”
Last year, the Vancouver board of education drafted a plan to turn the building into an early learning centre, but the ministry refused, noting there is already an excess of space in nearby schools. A report shows 900 empty spaces in the east-side community, including 180 in Carleton elementary itself.
Based on the ministry’s refusal, school district managers recommended earlier this month that the board proceed with demolition, but trustees gave the community time to seek ways of saving the building.
Trustee Sharon Gregson said the building, constructed in 1896, is an important heritage site but any ideas for restoration will have to be weighed against the fact Vancouver will likely have to consider school closures in future. “[We have to] balance the enthusiasm for saving the building with the reality ... that Carleton could be one of the schools that’s up for closure,” she said in an interview.
The district has been predicting a shortfall of more than $17 million in balancing its 2010-11 budget.
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