Former Cedar Hill students seeking a little nostalgia get one last chance this weekend.
The 94-year-old middle school opens for the community to gather on April 26.
“This is a great opportunity for alumni to take a final walk down the hallways of their former school before the building is dismantled in the fall,” principal Maryanne Trofimuk said in a news release. “From the windows of this school, we’ve been able to see the progress of the new building come to life. We are very excited to make the transition to a more collaborative, modern, and seismically safe learning site.”
Originally Mount Doug Secondary School when it first opened in 1931, the building became Cedar Hill Junior Secondary School in 1970 and most recently, Cedar Hill Middle School since 2004.
“School staff have done a commendable amount of work to honour the building with a wonderful event,” said Stephen Monahan, manager of Major Capital Projects. “We are thrilled to be able to celebrate the history of this building by incorporating some existing elements, such as the stained-glass windows and the wooden bench seating, in the design of the new Cedar Hill Middle School.”
The new Cedar Hill Middle School is expected to welcome students this fall.
At nearly a century old and seismically unsafe, the school that students will leave this summer stands next to its new seismically safe replacement, purpose-built to foster greater student engagement, collaboration and connection to Indigenous education.
The new school will also be the greenest in the Greater Victoria School District (SD61), providing a 90 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions versus a baseline school model. The school will include air-source heat pumps, ground-source heat pumps, a geothermal field, and solar panels. Windows in each classroom provide natural daylight for health benefits and reduction in energy costs, and efficient heat pumps will help reduce the school’s carbon footprint.
While the new school won’t be open to visitors, the new building at 3910 Cedar Hill Rd. is open for celebration on April 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visitors can walk through the current school, browse historical photos and memorabilia, leave a comment in the memory book and add names to the signature wall.
