The future New Westminster Secondary School is starting to take shape – on paper anyways.
Community consultations were in full swing this week with about 50 people showed up to an open house at the high school Tuesday night and a small group meeting with about 15 attendees, held earlier that day.
“It was very, very well received – lots of positive comments,” said Pat Duncan, superintendent for the New Westminster school district.
This is the first round of public consultations for the much anticipated replacement of New Westminster Secondary School. Funding for the $106.5 million project was approved by the province in June. When it opens in December 2019, the new school will house more than 1,900 Grade 9 to 12 students.
But don’t expect to see mock-ups of the future school just yet. The district has only now revealed where on the site the school might go.
The anticipated location of the new high school is an area between Sixth Street and the back of the existing school with Mercer Stadium to the north and Thornebridge Gardens residences and the Royal City Christian Centre to the south.
“A lot of people were concerned that we wouldn’t find any land, and so that’s land that we know and have confirmed (there are no burials),” Duncan said, adding some people at the open house were concerned the project could be delayed because of complications with the site.
The existing site is complicated thanks, in part, to the two protected areas that intersect the property – the official cemetery land and the Heritage Conservation Act land.
The parcel with cemetery designation is well documented and have been identified with clear boundaries. The conservation area, meanwhile, does not meet the strict criteria needed to be designated a cemetery site. Under the Heritage Conservation Act, the district must ensure that any burial grounds within the conservation area remain untouched.
The school district and the province have said no part of the new high school will be built on any known burial grounds and that construction will take place outside of the protected areas. Part of the replacement project will also include a 2.2 hectare (about 5.4 acres) passive park on the known burial lands to commemorate the people buried in the former Douglas Road Cemetery.
To learn more about the project go to newnwss.com and download a copy of the NWSS replacement project discussion guide.
Missed the open house and meeting on Tuesday?
Go to Saturday’s open house:
When? Saturday, Nov. 19
What time? 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where? Fraser River Middle School, gymnasium, 800 Queens Ave.
No registration needed.
Sign up for the last small group meeting:
When? Wednesday, Nov. 23
What time? 6 to 8 p.m.
Where? New Westminster Secondary School, library, 835 Eighth St.
To sign up, email [email protected] or call 778-379-3310
Contact the district directly:
By mail:
Attn: NWSS Replacement Project
811 Ontario Street
New Westminster, B.C.
V3M 0J7
By phone: 778-379-3310
By email: [email protected]
