ROTHENBURGER – Is the wrecking ball coming for Stuart Wood school?

ANOTHER KEY PIECE of Kamloops heritage is in danger of being lost. This is a familiar story because the roll call of city heritage buildings has steadily diminished over the years to the point where we have little left.

Heritage homes and public buildings are torn down to make room for apartment towers, subdivisions and offices, sometimes after years of neglect.

One of our most iconic historic buildings may not be with us much longer unless somebody in power steps up to champion it. I’m speaking of Stuart Wood School, built in 1907 in what’s called a “classical revival” architectural style.

In City council chambers, its future has been bandied about with seemingly little concern about whether it stays or goes. As council has looked for ways to reduce this year’s tax increase, Stuart Wood has become an issue — specifically, the $110,000 annual cost of maintenance, and whether council should refuse to pay it.

The cavalier manner in which several councillors discussed the old school at a committee meeting was alarming. Coun. Mike O’Reilly made it sound as though Stuart Wood is no more than an inconvenience. “I don’t have any interest in sinking money into the building itself,” he said. “It’s an asset that’s not ours and … provides us nothing in return (for maintaining it).”

It’s true that the City doesn’t have title to Stuart Wood and neither does the school district that abandoned it. The provincial government owns it. The Tk’emlups band has an interest in it.

If the City stops paying the $110,000, maybe the province will ante up, council reasons. Or not.

Council’s only concerns about the site were loss of storage space and keeping the playground, not about its heritage value.

Coun. Katie Neustaeter claimed it would take “hundreds of millions of dollars” to make it “functional.” Where she got that figure from, I don’t know (actual estimates have been in the $4 million to $5 million range), but it sounded like a capitulation.

There has been some discussion between the City and Band about turning the school into some sort of cultural centre, or even re-opening it as an elementary school if the downtown core continues to densify but, so far, there’s no concrete plan.

Since it was shut down as a school 10 years ago, the building has been used for temporary shelter space. Meanwhile, as empty buildings do, it continues to decline. Which is the sad story of so many heritage buildings — let them deteriorate until they’re no longer usable and then bulldoze them.

If you’re thinking, “Surely, nobody would support tearing it down,” consider the number of heritage buildings that have come under the wrecking ball in the past, usually in the name of progress. Even the beloved St. Andrew’s on the Square was once declared “an old pile of boards” and narrowly missed demolition by a council in the ‘90s.

Not all old buildings are worth saving. But Stuart Wood sure is.

Mel Rothenburger is a former Kamloops mayor, former school board chairman and a retired daily newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca news and opinion blog.