From 1958 to 2012, many students passed through the doors of Centre Consolidated School, just outside Lunenburg, N.S. But aside from some rental opportunities since then, it’s sat abandoned. “Centre School, it’s not just a building in my district,” says Chasidy Veinotte, deputy mayor for the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg. “This was home for me for many years. I went here from primary to Grade 9 with so many other people in the district. So, it’s bittersweet to see it go down.” Demolition efforts began inside after Labour Day to allow for the summer soccer season to conclude, but now the building is coming down. For former principal and teacher Hank Middleton, the school was about much more than education. “For myself and the staff who worked here, it’s an important part of our lives,” he says. “For the young people that went to the school, that’s also an important part of their lives, not just education, but the relationships between students and between students and teachers and the soccer teams and the guitar clubs and all those things.” He admits it’s difficult to see the demolition begin. “I met my wife here; she taught in elementary school,” Middleton says. “So, we both have attachments to the school and to the community.” Students left in 2012 for a new school within town limits, Bluenose Academy. The municipality’s mayor says when it closed, protocol was to return school properties back to municipalities. “We were left with this, as a legacy piece for us,” says Elspeth McLean-Wile. “Of course, the municipality looked at a number of options of what could happen on that site. “I would describe it as a headache.” She says the empty building attracted vandals and broken windows. “There’s issues in the community, concerns around safety, not only from a vandalism point of view, but concerns that the building might catch fire or be set on fire by some of those vandals.” One option considered by the municipality was pursuing a partnership to convert the building into affordable housing in 2023. “I know a lot of us wanted to see stuff done to it,” Veinotte says. She says that didn’t work out because there was insufficient water, but that wasn’t the only issue with the building. “Studies afterwards concluded that, legally, we were not allowed to sell the building because of that asbestos. “After that, the decision was made that the only thing that can be done is tearing it down.” McLean-Wile says being unable to see affordable housing come through was not a missed opportunity due to the costs that would’ve been associated with the work. “I think the right decision was made,” she says. Demolition is expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year, before a year’s worth of studies to the ground. The soccer fields will remain, but there’s no indication of what’s next for the property. Veinotte says it will be a community decision. “It’s a beautiful property,” she says. “It’s surrounded by trees. “I think we have to keep in mind that those soccer fields are such a key piece of this property and making sure whatever goes here doesn’t affect those.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
