News that Richard McBride Elementary School is to be replaced in the next few years has generated many memories and comments. The community is of course still watching the discussions and progress regarding the high school and its replacement, but the McBride decision will add greatly to education history in this city.
The original McBride in Sapperton was built in 1912 and served until 1929, when fire in a very frigid February of that year destroyed most of the structure. A new school was immediately built, and it is this second McBride that is now about to come down and be replaced after 89 years.
One piece of the 1912 building’s history is that when it was first constructed it had only one wing for classrooms. A photograph of pipe installations on Hospital Street in Sapperton that year clearly shows in the background the new edifice looking quite unbalanced architecturally. In time that was rectified.
Another piece of McBride school history concerns corner stores. Students certainly knew the nearby stores and what they offered, and any discussion of attending the school must include the corner stores. There were two across Richmond Street from the school. One, at the foot of School Street at Richmond Street, is still there but is now a family home, while a second was at the corner of Hospital Street at Richmond Street. About three blocks south at Alberta Street and Richmond Street was a third, known as Buckshaw’s.
Ask people who attended the school about the front lawns and you get varied responses. Those who attended in the past few decades usually have no memory of any front lawns at the school. This was all play area. Go back further, and you hear of lawns and trees with activities that took place on that surface. Back further and you hear even more of the fine front lawns, trees all around, and the fact that no activity was allowed on that area though playgrounds were behind the school and up the hill a bit.
And speaking of earlier playgrounds, many remember that there were two levels to play on, with a basic dirt finish and sloping hills above the top field and between the two areas. They were well used for fun, games and sports. After a snowfall, they were the scene of massive snowball fights, with huge numbers of students running down the slopes throwing snowballs as they ran. These were not really supposed to happen, but of course they did.
