The project to relocate and reuse the “Little Yellow School House” in Kitsilano is no small feat of engineering and logistics.
Between Tuesday night and late Wednesday afternoon, the original schoolhouse structure on the grounds of Henry Hudson Elementary School will be making its journey to its new home on the North Shore.
Since its construction in 1912, the single-storey structure has been located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Cornwall Avenue and Maple Street.
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The schoolhouse’s brand new second life starts at 10 pm tonight, when the uplifted structure — already detached from its foundations and placed on a trailer in preparations ahead of its big day — is slowly and carefully moved out of its historic footprint at 1502 Maple Street.
Expect full overnight road closures on Cornwall Avenue to accommodate the big move. The journey along three blocks of Cornwall Avenue from Maple Street to Vine Street will take about two hours, according to the multi-party operations team.
Vancouver School Board trustee Christopher Richardson, who is also a special constable for the Vancouver Police Department, will be one of the marshalls for tonight’s major operation.
From the foot of Vine Street, the trailer carrying the structure will move north onto Kitsilano Beach Park, and then onto the seawall just east of Kitsilano Pool. Coinciding with the rising tide, the schoolhouse will be loaded onto a barge from the seawall at 4 am, and then the journey by water will begin at 5 am.
The barge’s pace over open water, while carrying precious yet priceless cargo, will also be slow — passing by Stanley Park’s Third Beach at 2 pm, and arriving at its transfer landing site just east of the Lions Gate Bridge in North Vancouver at 4 pm.
Upon returning to land, the structure will have one more short trip traversing roadways to reach its new home at 100 Capilano Road on the Squamish First Nation’s reserve — as an addition to the Chief Joe Mathias Centre campus. Site preparation for the schoolhouse’s foundations is already well underway at the southeast corner of the intersection of Lower Capilano Road and Spirit Trail.
According to Vancouver Park Board chair Scott Jensen, the Park Board’s role in the entire operation for the big move began seven months ago.
We had to “make sure this move is done in a way that is environmentally and archaeologically respectfully sound, so that as this moves onto Kitsilano Beach and onto water, our parks are protected and it’s not interfering with any of the use of the public at the time,” Jenson told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview.
The project is spearheaded by Glyn Lewis, the owner and CEO of Renewal Home Development, which specializes in preserving, relocating, and repurposing structures to extend their lifespan and prevent unnecessary demolition landfill waste.
In January 2023, his company became aware that the Vancouver School Board (VSB) had plans to demolish the 110-year-old building as part of the modern seismic redevelopment of Henry Hudson elementary school, which is currently under construction and expected to reach completion in 2025.
“We assessed it for the condition of the building, the movability of the structure, and everything checked out,” Lewis told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview.
Lewis’ team then found out that the Squamish First Nation had plans to build a 2,000 sq ft learning centre for young Squamish children to learn their own language and culture.
With an interior floor area of 1,900 sq ft, the reuse of the schoolhouse was deemed a shoo-in for the First Nation’s needs.
“It was exactly the same time that we were looking for a place to relocate and repurpose this schoolhouse. Those two pieces came together at that point, and everything kind of snowballed from that point,” said Lewis.
After the structure reaches its final destination on the North Shore, extensive work will be performed to improve it for its new uses, including a new interior. Some abatement work has already been performed, such as the removal of lead paint.
Previous interior condition:
Current interior condition:
Future interior condition:
Some improvements to the building were also previously made by the Henry Hudson Childcare Society, which used the building as an early childcare centre since 2008.
In addition to the sustainability benefits, this innovative project also provides the First Nation with cost savings. And instead of spending the budgeted $80,000 for demolition, the VSB reallocated the funding towards the relocation cost of about $150,000.
“It’s such a great move considering this schoolhouse is going to be repurposed as a language centre for the First Nation. The Park Board has a strong relationship with the Squamish First Nation, and this is something we’re really proud to be a part of,” added Jensen.
When asked about the structure’s remaining lifespan, Lewis said, “It has been here for 110 years, there’s no reason it can’t be at Squamish First Nation for another 110 years.”
Previous condition of the new site:
Current condition of the new site:
Future condition of the new site:
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