Brighton Public School: picking the bones

Posted Feb 2, 2012 By Ray Yurkowski

EMC News - Brighton - The final piece of deliberation over the old parts of Brighton Public School is what and how much can be saved? And at the municipal council meeting last week, Planning Manager Ken Hurford had at least some of the answers.

Time is fairly critical he told council. "The demolition permit has been applied for and issued."

In his report, Hurford recounted a meeting between him, Public Works Director Andrew Drzewiecki and Kawartha Pine Ridge (KPR) District School Board Engineering Services Supervisor Jeff Berry, which included a tour of the old school.

"Mr. Berry explained that inside the old building, there is virtually nothing of significance (no mill work or trim, no hardwood floors, no wooden staircases or banisters or railings)," wrote Hurford in his report.

"The school board has shown some willingness to co-operate on some limited things," he said. "It was pleasant to find out that quite a bit of thought had gone into how (KPR) was processing the project and it wasn't just a bunch of stuff that was going to end up in the junk bin. A lot of thought went into the process of how to divert as much as possible away from landfill."

"The new school was outfitted with all new classroom furniture," explained Hurford in his report, and of the significant number of desks and chairs left in the old building, the newer items were redistributed to other schools in the KPR system.

The older but usable furniture, along with some blackboards and tack boards have been picked up and will be sent to Zambia, South Africa. The unusable furniture was disassembled and the metal is being recycled.

The contractor says he has someone interested in reusing the brick and block material from the old school noted Hurford.

"Mr. Berry indicated the school board would likely be agreeable to working with the municipality by arranging for up to two pallets of bricks to be salvaged, for a monument or cairn," reported Hurford.

"Without going so far as to design the structure, staff thought a wall with a width of, perhaps, six feet, a height of three feet and a depth of about two feet would be reasonable."

The intent is to save three stone pieces from the old school, inscribed "PVBLIC SCHOOL, A.D. 1915, and HIGH SCHOOL." Workers have already removed two brass plaques, one from each of the old school buildings.

The plan is to install the "PVBLIC SCHOOL" piece on the front of the new school as well as the brass plaque from the 1915 building inside.

Hurford mused at the possibility of using the "A.D. 1915" stone and the other plaque being used as part of the memorial.

When asked about the possibility of the school board funding a memorial to the old school, Hurford said, "It may be something that might take a partnership: some school board support, some municipal support and maybe some support in the community as well."

"When it comes, for example, to salvaging some bricks, we're certainly not going to get a couple of nice pallet loads with all the mortar chipped off," he added. "I suspect that's a volunteer job for somebody."