Education will once again be the primary use for the historic Craigflower Schoolhouse, a 160-year-old building tucked beside the Gorge Waterway.
The two-storey, gable-roofed school is on the north side of the Craigflower Bridge, and was used as an office for construction personnel during the recent bridge construction.
As of March 1, the non-profit Hallmark Heritage Society will use the school for a range of programs and maintain an office there, said president Ken Johnson. The society, active since 1973, advocates for the preservation and restoration of heritage sites and structures, and currently has about 200 members.
The schoolhouse was built in 1854 by the Hudson’s Bay Company and is the oldest standing school building in B.C. It is also one of the few structures in the province that predates the province’s 1858 gold rush.
Johnson said the society and the schoolhouse are a “natural fit.” The society’s proposal for the facility emerged from a provincial government process that began in the summer, he said.
The society plans to use the building for educational purposes, Johnson said. “What we will do is put on lectures helping people understand how to maintain heritage buildings, and some of the problems in heritage buildings,” he said. “For example, a lot of people have trouble getting insurance, they have trouble when the building inspector says, ‘Well, your wiring is too old,’ or, ‘You have asbestos in your house.’ ”
Johnson said he will also give classes on seismic upgrades for heritage and non-heritage houses.
“We can serve the general community,” he said.
The society has a one-year term for a licence of occupation with the possibility of extending it to a six-year term. Rent for the first year is $6,800.
Both the schoolhouse and the nearby Craigflower Manor were formerly run by The Land Conservancy of B.C. The manor is now rented by the Victoria Highland Games Association.
Ownership of the two properties was taken over by the province in 2012 because the TLC was losing $150,000 annually on the sites.
The TLC went into creditor protection in October 2013 with debts of $7.5 million. Its creditor protection was recently extended to Feb. 2.
The agreement with the Hallmark Heritage Society returns the Craigflower Schoolhouse to “its historic educational function,” said Steve Thomson, the minister responsible for heritage conservation, in a statement. “As a centre for public-heritage education and advocacy, the 160-year-old building will once again become an active and important place in the community.”
This story has been edited to correct a factual error
