New elementary school for Kitsilano moving forward (RENDERINGS)

Jun 2 2021, 9:25 pm

A new development application submitted to the municipal government shows the detailed design of the replacement Henry Hudson Elementary School in Kitsilano.

Vancouver School Board (VSB) will be building a new school on the west side of the school block at 1551 Cypress Street — the southeast corner of Cornwall Avenue and Maple Street. Currently, this future school footprint is used as a sports field.

Designed by HCMA Architecture, the new school will be a 42-ft-tall, three-storey building with a capacity for 404 students and 38 staff, plus a 69 space childcare facility on the top level.

Henry Hudson Elementary School 1551 Cypress Street Vancouver

Exterior of the existing Henry Hudson Elementary School at 1551 Cypress Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Henry Hudson Elementary School 1551 Cypress Street Vancouver

Artistic rendering of the new Henry Hudson Elementary School at 1551 Cypress Street, Vancouver. (HCMA/Vancouver School Board)

After the new building reaches completion, the 110-year-old school building on the east side of the block will be demolished and turned into a replacement sports field and a surface parking lot with 31 vehicle stalls.

The provincial government confirmed the redevelopment’s $40-million construction cost earlier this year, with $29 million funded by BC’s Seismic Mitigation Program, $1 million from VSB, and $10 million from the City of Vancouver for the childcare facility component.

Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2022 for completion by September 2024.

Henry Hudson Elementary School 1551 Cypress Street Vancouver

Artistic rendering of the new Henry Hudson Elementary School at 1551 Cypress Street, Vancouver. (HCMA/Vancouver School Board)

Henry Hudson Elementary School 1551 Cypress Street Vancouver

Artistic rendering of the new Henry Hudson Elementary School at 1551 Cypress Street, Vancouver. (HCMA/Vancouver School Board)

Henry Hudson Elementary School 1551 Cypress Street Vancouver

Artistic rendering of the new Henry Hudson Elementary School at 1551 Cypress Street, Vancouver. (HCMA/Vancouver School Board)

Records show the enrolment at Henry Hudson steadily increased over the past decade from 274 students in 2010 to a high of 402 in 2018, before falling slightly to 398 in 2019.

VSB’s updated enrolment forecast anticipates Henry Hudson’s student population will decline over the coming decade from 345 students in 2021 to 267 in 2029. It is unclear whether such estimates account for the neighbourhood’s population growth from the Senakw redevelopment, which will add 6,000 homes for as many as 9,000 residents over multiple phases through 2035. There is also an intent to redevelop the Molson Brewery into a mixed-use complex with thousands of homes, and densify parts of Kitsilano and Fairview under the Broadway Plan.

Henry Hudson, located about a block away, is the closest elementary school to the Senakw and the Molson Brewery sites.

Earlier this spring, construction began on a $106-million new replacement building for Eric Hamber Secondary School, which is also a seismic replacement project. To date, the provincial government has committed $325 million to upgrade or replace a dozen ageing school buildings in the city.

Henry Hudson Elementary School 1551 Cypress Street Vancouver

Artistic rendering of the new Henry Hudson Elementary School at 1551 Cypress Street, Vancouver. (HCMA/Vancouver School Board)

Henry Hudson Elementary School 1551 Cypress Street Vancouver

Footprints of the existing and future school buildings at Henry Hudson Elementary School at 1551 Cypress Street, Vancouver. (HCMA/Vancouver School Board)

Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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