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For Chris Norbury, watching the walls of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School come down this week was bittersweet and deeply personal.
Norbury, a long-time resident whose wife was inside the school during February’s deadly mass shooting, was among dozens of community members who gathered to watch the demolition begin on Monday.
“I try to put myself second and try to empathize with people who were there. If they tell me something they want or need, or how they feel, I take that more important than myself,” he said.
“This is going to be the start of the next chapter of Tumbler Ridge and its students.”
The brown-bricked building was constructed in the 1980s, when Tumbler Ridge was created out of the wilderness for coal mining.
Norbury says generations of students have attended and made good memories at the school over the past 40 years.
But after the events of Feb. 10, he says students and teachers were clear they didn’t want to return and wanted to see the building removed.
“For us to heal past this tragedy, we need to have chapters finished and new ones begin,” Norbury said.
“I really hope that this is an opportunity for us in the next stage of community recovery. This is a journey that we’re going to have to go through.”
Temporary campus expanded
Students are returning to class at a temporary campus this fall as plans for a new school get underway.
On Monday, crews were building a gathering space that will include washrooms and a lunchroom. It joins roughly a dozen modular classrooms and administrative and counselling offices set up on the grounds of the local elementary school.
School District 59 board chair Chad Anderson says a child-care centre is also being built, while the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology has a mobile trades training centre on site.
“When we got started in the spring, it really was about giving students and staff a sense of safety,” Anderson said. “The big goal this fall is to provide a strong schedule and regular classwork for students.”
Distance learning and supports will be offered for students who aren’t yet ready to return, Anderson said.
Looking ahead to new school, public memorial
The site of the secondary school will be returned to a grass field.
“Down the road, the board has decisions to make around permanent memorials and what to do with this property, but those decisions have not yet been made,” Anderson said.
A memorial outside the town’s community centre continues to be maintained and attracts visitors.
Mayor Darryl Krakowka says a future permanent memorial will be directed by the wishes of the victims’ families.
“As they go through their grieving stages and are prepared to have that conversation with the district, then we’ll have a conversation.”
Krakowka said residents were consulted and a majority also wanted the school to come down. He said many youth have avoided going near the building, and hope seeing it come down helps with their grieving.
“They didn’t want to use the soccer field that was down opposite of the high school,” Krakowka said.
“Seeing the school come down, when it’s not there, maybe it’s easier on them and they’re able to use the downtown more with not having to see that school, what they went through that day.”
The municipality is developing a long-term community recovery plan, and provincial and federal support continues to be offered, Krakowka said. The focus is to continue engaging students, families and residents.
“I think it’s really important that we listen to them,” Krakowka said. “Maybe we’re missing certain things that we should have for our community to help.”
Anderson said the province and school district are considering options for the site of the new school, but no decisions have been made. Consultations on school designs are expected later this year.
Anderson said the community has already expressed its desire to keep a new school centrally located and have it continue to include facilities like workshops and kitchens and other specialty programs.
Norbury said he’s excited for what a new school will bring.
“This is closing the door on Tumbler Ridge Senior Secondary, and it’ll open on a new school when the time comes,” he said.
“And hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later.”
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