Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Day They Tore the School House Down

Several schools, in fact 6 schools, in North Vancouver School District 44 have been demolished in recent years. District 44 includes approximately 7 secondary and 30 elementary  schools from the Capilano River in the west to Deep Cove in the east.  It includes all the schools in both the City of North Vancouver and North Vancouver District. Most of the new schools have been built on the school property and ready for the students to move into before the old school was torn down.  This is true of the pictured Highlands Elementary School at 3150 Colwood Drive in the District of North Vancouver.

Highlands Elementary School serves the community of the Edgemont Village area in the Capilano Highlands.  There are 429 students at the school that at one time also offered a Community School program.  The old flat roofed school was built in 1959 for $194,000. Part of  it can be seen in the right hand side of the photo. The new school was built at a cost of $13,000,000.  The grand opening  was October 16, 2010.  This school  can  be seen in the rear of the photo.  It has a slant roof in the front.  In the second floor concrete pillars are clad in wood, making them look like trees.

The other North Vancouver schools that have  built next to the original buildings are Sutherland Secondary School at 1860 Sutherland Avenue, Westview Elementary School at 1660 Bewicke Avenue, and Lynn Valley Elementary School at 3250 Mountain Highway.  Lonsdale Elementary School at 2151 Lonsdale Avenue was demolished and the property is being developed for other than a school.  Sutherland Secondary School was demolished in 2009.  Westview Elementary was demolished in 2007.  Lynn Valley Elementary School was demolished in 2004 however the part of the school that was the 1920 building was retained and renovated as the North Vancouver Community History Centre housing the Archives and offices of  the Museum. 

Carson Graham Secondary School is presently in the process of being demolished and rebuilt, all at the same time.  Since there is no land available to completely build a new school at the same time the old school is standing, the school is being replaced in sections.  The south west and west sections housing the cafeteria, music, and shop areas will be demolished and rebuilt first.  During this process students that would use these areas are being bussed to the nearby vacant Balmoral Junior  Secondary School for classes there.  Secondly the north section of Carson Graham will be demolished and then rebuilt.  A remaining and newer part of the school on the east side and containing the theater  will remain part of the new school.


A school that looks like it is being torn down, but isn't is Ridgeway Elementary School at 420 East 8th Street.  This school is undergoing a seismic upgrade.  While construction is going on the classes are being held in the old Cloverley Elementary School building at East 4th Street and Hendry Avenue.
 
Photos taken by SW of all the schools in North Vancouver are available at the North Vancouver Archives.
Link: http://www.nvsd44.bc.ca/schoolsites/highlands.aspx
Photo: Taken January 3, 2010 by SW.