100-year-old Vancouver school to be destroyed

A Vancouver School District decision to knock down a 100-year-old school in Kitsilano and replace it with a new building is upsetting many residents who wanted to save the historic building.

The trustees voted on Monday night to knock down General Gordon Elementary and build a new school on the site for $14 million dollars, saying the new building will be safer from earthquakes and a better learning environment than the old school.

The school on West 6th Avenue is just one of many old schools in Vancouver are being replaced or upgraded because of they are considered extremely unsafe in the event of an earthquake.

School trustee Allen Blakey said in this case the new school was "the safest and the most educationally positive environment for them to learn and to be a success in their learning."

Parent tried to save school

Some parents in the area wanted to save at least two heritage facades of the old stone building as part of the redevelopment. But school board officials said that project would cost $8 million dollars more than building a new school.

Emily Pickett , a member of the school's Parent Advisory Committee, said the decision ignored parents' wishes to revitalize the current building, maintain heritage elements and the school's size.

"I don't see why the smallest, cheapest school is the best for our children. I think that's flat out wrong.

"I think retaining part of the school would have resulted in a larger school, a much larger school so that there would be more space for the children to learn in larger classrooms."

Linda Light said she spent the past four years trying to save General Gordon Elementary and now fears what will be lost.

"That school embodies our stories, it embodies generations of peoples' stories and those are going to be lost," said Light.