Community chips in school design ideas
Student says she hopes for environment where kids ‘can express themselves’
Natural light, arts programming and energy efficient design were key elements residents want to see in a remodelled and rebuilt Highlands school.
About 50 people gathered in the 103-year-old junior high Wednesday evening to share how they want a consolidated school to take shape when it becomes a K-9 school in 2020.
They scrawled their hopes onto sticky notes, cut pictures out of design magazines and picked interior decor preferences from poster boards.
“I hope they’ll have an environment where they can express themselves,” said 13-year-old Miriam Sandercock, who’s currently in Grade 8 at Highlands.
Although the student, who loves theatre and visual arts, will be in high school by the time the building is modernized, her three younger siblings are future students.
She wants the building to keep its character, and says large areas should have noise dampening, so students’ learning is unaffected.
Edmonton Public Schools received provincial approval in March to go ahead with a $25-million overhaul of the school at 11509 62 St.
The plan is to keep the original gothic building, built between 1914-20, demolish a 1954 addition, and build a new two-storey section to create a modernized school for 800 K-9 students.
The school board voted in June to close Mount Royal and Montrose elementary schools once Highlands school opens.
In 2014, the school district first broached the idea of consolidating the three schools.
At the time, some parents worried consolidation could put the arts core programs currently at Highlands and Mount Royal schools at risk.
Jennifer Creighton was one of those parents who initially fought the closure of Mount Royal, where her daughter is in Grade 4. Her family moved to the area so their children could attend the arts program.
“They’ve built such a good community there,” she said.
She likes the small size of her daughter’s current school, and is concerned about her three children feeling lost in the chaos of a large school.
This fall, 570 students are enrolled in all three schools — 212 at Highlands, 148 at Montrose and 210 at Mount Royal.
Colette Hunter lives across from Highlands school, and said the building’s historical facade has to stay.
Although her children and stepchildren will be in high school and graduated by the time the project is done, the modernization is the “talk of the household” right now.
“It’s important to my kids. It’s a historical building, and it needs to be done right,” Hunter said.
Area school trustee Trisha Estabrooks said the project has the potential to revitalize the neighbourhood.
A blend of beauty and decay, the original Highlands building fea- tures colourful tile mosaics around hall archways, paintings and sculptures at every turn, marble stairs in the front entrance, and ornate chandeliers adorned with blue and green blown glass.
Beside them are peeling wall and ceiling paint, cracked floors, warped stairs and, in a couple of basement rooms, distinct and unidentifiable odours.
Two peach-painted pillars in the middle of the original gym are a hazard and a nuisance for athletes.
Holding on to the history of the building is integral to the project, said Chris Wright, managing director of infrastructure for Edmonton Public Schools.
“Until you peel it back, you’re not sure what you’ve got,” he said of the building’s condition.
The intent is to renovate the school in phases, so Highlands students can stay on-site during construction. If families think that will be too disruptive, the district will listen, Wright said.
Edmonton public hopes to have the remodelled building ready by September 2020.