LETTER – Tearing down Stuart Wood for a police station would be a travesty

Friday, Sept. 18, 2026

Dear Kamloops City Council,

The notice of motion about the location of a new police station, to be discussed on Tuesday, Sept. 22, has raised concerns for all members of the City’s Heritage Engagement Group.

The motion put forward by Coun. Margot Middleton suggests exploring potential sites for a new police station, including Stuart Wood school. The heritage school building would be torn down to make way for a new building.

Kamloops has few heritage buildings remaining, and to lose Stuart Wood for a new police station when there are other options available would be an unnecessary travesty.

Stuart Wood school is listed on Canada’s Historic Places and it has heritage designation. It was the first heritage building to be recognized. Built in 1907, it features classic revival details and is a significant example of the architectural work of William Tuff Whiteway. It was the third public school built in the city and is one of its earliest surviving schools.

Some of the significant features in the 120-year-old school include hipped roof with front and rear gabled projections, heavy timber internal framing, red brick cladding, central front entry with columned and pedimented entry porch, four-over-four double-hung wood sash windows on the first and second floors, six-over-six double-hung wood sash windows on the third floor with arched transoms, arched fanlight above the front entrance, original wood wainscoting, maple floors, lath-and-plaster walls and panelled doors with original hardware.

The school building is owned by the province, but the city pays for maintaining it. The schoolyard is used by the Farmers’ Market throughout spring, summer and fall. Stuart Wood is a community resource, a gathering place and a point of pride. The schoolyard is also used by nearby day care centres and almost every day, it is filled with the laughter of children enjoying the playground equipment and swings.

The current police station is built on the site where the Allan Matthews school stood — another beautiful heritage building that fell to the bulldozer. Let’s not lose another outstanding, landmark building to build another police station. There are numerous other places where a new station can go that don’t require the city to lose one of its most historically significant buildings.

We hope you will consider our concerns and we ask that you remove Stuart Wood from the notice of motion regarding the search for a new police station location.

Sincerely,

City of Kamloops Heritage Engagement Group — Andrew Yarmie, Carol Lindsay, Chris Moser, Claire MacLeod, Michele Young