VSB delays demolition of little yellow schoolhouse

The Vancouver School Board will try to save a little yellow schoolhouse that was slated for demolition, possibly this week.

The schoolhouse, which sits on the General Gordon elementary school grounds and was built in about 1912, has been used for a Montessori preschool until about three weeks ago. General Gordon elementary is being rebuilt and the site of the schoolhouse was to be a parking lot.  Gordon elementary is in Kitsilano, near Broadway and MacDonald.

At Monday night’s VSB meeting, trustees passed a motion to have staff look at options for the house, which include having it stay where it is and moving the planned parking lot, or moving the house to another site. If it was to stay, perhaps the city, the province or a community group could pay to restore and use the building, said Mike Lombardi, chairman of the VSB.

Lombardi said a similar and successful partnership exists with a former Carelton elementary school heritage program and Green Thumb Theatre, which restored the building after a fire  and now uses it as a performance space.

The West Kitsilano Residents’ Association has been advocating to save the schoolhouse for the past two years, saying the demolition makes no sense.

Sun education reporter, tsherlock@vancouversun .com