New functions for old Burnside Elementary, S.J. Willis Junior High
The Greater Victoria school board is moving ahead with a strategy to turn the former Burnside Elementary School into the Burnside Education Centre, providing space for alternative high school education and continuing education programs that are currently housed at the district’s S.J. Willis facility.
The shift means the former S.J. Willis Junior High School, closed as a school in 1983, will become a rotating site for secondary schools needing accommodation during seismic upgrades. Both S.J. Willis and Burnside will need renovations as part of the arrangement.
“We’re feeling pretty good about it,” said district secretarytreasurer Mark Walsh. “We’re looking forward to being able to release the plans soon.”
Teachers and students currently at S.J. Willis will get a chance to review the drawings for their new surroundings at Burnside, Walsh said.
Programs that were being offered at Burnside Elementary through the Burnside Gorge Community Association have been relocated, several to other school district facilities.
A series of elementary school and middle school communities moved to the former Richmond Elementary during seismic work at their home schools.
Richmond, which closed in 2004 due to declining enrolment, is not big enough for a high school’s needs.
The measures planned for Burnside and S.J. Willis come as the district has set its priorities for school seismic work over the next seven to 10 years.
The top-priority schools, in no particular order, are Campus View Elementary, Victoria High School, Cedar Hill Middle School, Braefoot Elementary School and Shoreline Community School.
Even though Cedar Hill is on the list, replacement of the school rather than renovation is an option, Walsh said.
Seismic plans for Shoreline had been expected to proceed this year, but were called off in May by the provincial government, with low enrolment cited as the main reason.
Many Shoreline parents were upset with the decision.
A $19.4-million seismic upgrade at Vic High could be the first on the list to be approved by the province, Walsh said.
Other secondary schools in line for seismic upgrades are Reynolds and Lambrick Park.
Refurbishing Burnside Elementary, which was closed in 2006 due to declining enrolment, will cost about $2.6 million and include a new roof, seismic work and accessibility additions such as an elevator. The cost of changes at S.J. Willis is still being determined, but will be considerably less.
Walsh said there are many preliminary steps to take, but the Burnside project is slated for completion by next July, followed by the S.J. Willis project in January 2018.
“It’s our hope that if Vic High gets approval, it would move at that point,” Walsh said. “We expect that would go up to 18 months.”
Other seismic projects could proceed concurrently in the district, he said.