A Vancouver school board decision to knock down a 100-year-old heritage school is “extremely disappointing,” but ultimately the fault of the provincial government, says a member of a group that has fought for five years to save the building.
Trustees voted Monday not to ask the provincial government for additional funding to save General Gordon elementary school, saying the heritage value isn’t high enough to warrant the expense.
“It seems such a shame we’ve come into opposition with the trustees who care about public education for the city,” Emily Pickett, a member of General Gordon’s Parent Advisory Committee, said Tuesday.
“We should have been able to join forces with them. I understand they’re trying to be cheap, cheap, cheap but ultimately it’s at the provincial level where the wrongdoing is happening.
“The province will pay $600 million for a retractable roof [for BC Place Stadium] but not $3 million [estimated cost to save one of the heritage facades on the school]. It seems so disproportionate and yet they’re squeezing the public school system to death.”
The Kitsilano school is just one of 48 schools in Vancouver that has to either be replaced or upgraded because they are considered unsafe in the event of an earthquake.
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