The Board of Education of School District No. 57 (SD57) announced this week that the former Mackenzie Elementary School in Mackenzie, B.C. will soon be demolished.
Mackenzie Elementary opened its doors in 1966 and served the District of Mackenzie for 44 years until 2010. The building has been vacant since that time as the aging infrastructure has made repurposing it too costly for interested community groups.
SD57 said it has received many requests to remove the building as it has become a nuisance and potential risk to the community of Mackenzie.
The Board of Education was recently successful in applying for demolition funding from the Ministry of Education and Child Care.
These funds will allow the district to hire a contractor to remediate and demolish the building. Once the contract has been awarded, the estimated demolition timeline is two to three months.
“The funding announcement is welcome news for the District and the community of Mackenzie,” said Board Chair Rachael Weber.
“We hope to find new ways to use this land to support the community of Mackenzie in the future.”
The playground on the property will remain and be maintained by the School District for community use.
