Re: 鈥淐ity moves to block medical-facility plan at old Blanshard Elementary site,鈥� May 29.
The former school will not be demolished. Hooray!
The building is a gem and should be preserved. It was designed by Victoria鈥檚 pre-eminent modern architect, John A. DiCastri. Built at a cost of nearly half a million dollars by Campbell Construction, it opened on Sept. 3, 1968.
Blanshard Elementary was not only avant garde in design, it was also at the forefront of educational practice. It was the first school in Greater Victoria to implement a then-novel concept of team teaching.
DiCastri incorporated an open-area instructional space, equivalent in size to four standard classrooms, that could be configured in different ways by movable partitions. There was carpet instead of linoleum on the floor. On Nov. 10, 1968, the Victoria Daily 91原创 ran a full-page feature on the new school with a headline that proclaimed Blanshard Elementary as 鈥淐ity鈥檚 liveliest education experiment.鈥�
The school closed in 2003 because of declining enrolment. Subsequently, it was a campus for University Canada West and CDI College. The building at 950 Kings Rd., with its space-age foyer, airy classrooms and gym, was a special place for learning and teaching and still has much to offer the neighbourhood.
Kudos to Victoria city council for passing a zoning bylaw to save the building and limit permitted uses of the site to educational, community and cultural activities.
听
Patrick Dunae
Victoria
