Old Kits schoolhouse gets new life as Squamish language centre for children

Old schoolhouse gets new life A century-old school house has completed its journey to its new home in the Squamish Nation, where it will be a language-learning centre.

A charming reminder of a bygone era, the old yellow wooden schoolhouse that has anchored Cornwall Avenue in Kits for more than a century is on the move.

In front of a crowd of onlookers, a crew used heavy machinery to lift the building onto a specially designed vehicle Tuesday evening.

From there it began a slow crawl several blocks west to Kits Beach.

"Every time we move a historic building there is something unique about it and heartwarming. You're saving a piece of history," said Jeremy Nickel, president of Nickel Bros Canada, the company that moved the building.

Henry Hudson Elementary opened its doors in 1912 on the edge of Kits Point near a Squamish village known as Senakw.

The school remained in service until a new, more seismically resilient building opened to replace it earlier this year.

The Vancouver School Board set aside $80,000 to demolish the building -- but then the Squamish Nation saw an opportunity and bought it for one dollar.

"It holds that special place in our hearts as well because it's moving from a village of ours over to here and it's in our hands to now protect it," said Wilson Williams, an elected Squamish councillor.

Over the decades, thousands of students have passed through the doors and now the little yellow schoolhouse has a new lease on life -- providing a space for future generations to learn the Squamish language.

"It's focused around the children, especially our babies and young ones, where they will get immersed in our language right from birth as soon as the parents are comfortable to bring them down," said Wilson.

The school's journey to its new home included a trip across English Bay on a barge -- which caused heads to turn as the 112-year-old building sailed under the Lion's Gate Bridge before docking on the north shore near the Capilano Reserve.

"It reminded me of the house from the movie 'Up.' It's such a cute little building and has so much character," said Andrew Lawrence, a Kits resident who took photos and video of the school at several points on its journey. "I just thought it was neat that they're salvaging it. It's going to live another life over here."

The building needs a little work to bring it up to code, and a foundation still needs to be poured before it can become a foundational piece of the Squamish Nation's effort to preserve its language.