Dear Editor:
As you reported on March 17, North Vancouver school district plans to sell its Keith Lynn school site to North Shore Studios for development (North Shore Studios Keen to Take Over Keith Lynn Site).
It is disappointing that the school district made this selection without any public consultation, when there was a competing proposal to restore the building for continued use as a school. The school district says it will consult the public only on its selected proposal.
The 1914 Keith Lynn school building is a heritage site, recognized in the District of North Vancouver's heritage inventory. Although not of the same architectural splendour as North Vancouver's Ridgeway and Queen Mary elementary schools, it is a rare surviving example of an early schoolhouse in North Vancouver.
We appreciate that demolition of the heritage building and development of the site would bring the school district more revenue in the near term, but we also believe that this would be controversial. Many in our community are tired of seeing heritage buildings demolished and school sites sold off - especially in an area of high-density development such as this.
While others in the community may focus on issues of development, density, traffic and long-term educational services, our group's mandate is simply to preserve heritage buildings. We would prefer that heritage school buildings retain their original use, but we do support proposals that incorporate heritage buildings within developments. There are plenty of examples of this approach in North Vancouver: the townhouse developments along East Keith, the Green-Armytage building on West 23rd and Mollie Nye House in Lynn Valley, to name a few. Such efforts can bring neglected, run-down buildings back to life, and provide an asset for the community.
We firmly believe that any proposal for the Keith Lynn site should retain and incorporate the heritage school building.
Peter Miller, president, North Shore Heritage Preservation Society
