New elementary school build to go ahead on Cloverley Park site

They’ll be losing a treasured community park but gaining a much-needed elementary school.

At a public meeting Wednesday evening, the North Vancouver school district confirmed it will go ahead with plans to build a new $64 million school on the eastern side of the former Cloverley school site, currently occupied by Cloverley Park.

The plan means the loss of the park and tennis courts that the neighbourhood has used for decades.

But that option makes the most sense for a host of geo-technical and economic reasons, according to school district consultants.

A gravel “all weather” field and greenspace with gently sloping pathways will occupy the western portion of the site where the old school now stands.

Parking changed, drop-off dropped

The school district has changed earlier parking configurations in the plan, after hearing safety concerns from the community about cars accessing the school from steep Kennard Avenue.

In the new site plan, the 38 parking spaces, including staff parking and drop-off stalls for students with mobility needs, have been relocated to an access off Shavington Avenue, while an on-site drop-off lane for parents has been removed from the plan. Instead, parents picking up or dropping off students will be expected to do so along Cloverley or Shavington streets. The plan also includes 10 secure bike parking spaces and 40 short-term bike spaces.

After years of requests from the North Vancouver School District, the province announced last June that it would fund $61 million for the new school, big enough for 585 students, including 60 kindergartners, plus space for 50 kids in before- and after-school care. The school district has agreed to put up $3 million. And the City of North Vancouver is contributing $3.5 million to include a dedicated childcare centre. That will provide spaces for 37 pre-school children.

More than 150 people turned out to see the latest plans for the school on Wednesday evening at the school district’s education centre on Lonsdale Avenue.

With space for 585 students, the new school will be over twice the capacity of the old Cloverley Elementary, built in 1962.

The school district is planning to use mass timber construction, rather than concrete and steel, for the project, and designers are aiming to have the building’s greenhouse gas emissions 85 per cent below that of a typical school.

Building on western half of site more complicated and expensive

According to the school district, detailed analysis of the site done in the spring of 2021 compared building the school on both the eastern and western portions of the site, including examining topography limitations, geotechnical issues, structural, seismic and civil requirements, plus construction costs.

The east side was preferred because of the gentler slope allowing for a wide flat area to build the school and adjacent play areas. The shallow depth of unstable soils also allows for “an inexpensive conventional building foundation system” versus a foundation which would be “complex and expensive” if the school was built on the western portion of the site.

Building on the western side of the site would also have made it much harder to create emergency access for fire trucks, said Mark Ehman of DA Architects and Planners.

The province would also have to be convinced of any option that wasn’t the most cost-efficient and would likely not have agreed to fund it, Ehman added.

Among members of the public who turned out to Wednesday’s public information session, losing Cloverley Park remained one of the biggest concerns.

Park loss disappointing

Nearby resident David Frewin said, “It’s a bit of a disappointment anytime anyone loses park space.”

Frewin said he understands the reasons behind the decision from a financial standpoint, but added in delaying approval for the school by several years it was the province which was responsible for seeing construction costs more than double.

Area resident Alison Shaw said she and other neighbours still feel “a deep sadness for the profound loss of the park,” but added having more detailed information about the difficulties with building on the western part of the site had given them “an explanation we can all grasp and understand.”

Shaw said that information should have been shared with the community earlier.

For now it's unclear what – if anything – will happen in the greenspace on the western part of the school site.

The City of North Vancouver's 2024 financial plan "does not include any money toward outdoor recreation on the Cloverley school site," according to information supplied by the city. Now that site plans have been developed, city staff have determined  "the remaining land on the west section of the site is not sufficient to provide a replacement of the current amenity," said spokesperson Rebecca Vaughan. But other projects could still be considered in future, Vaughan added.

Meanwhile, Shaw said the neighbourhood is “thrilled” that the parking entrance has been moved to Shavington Street and away from Kennard Avenue. “That was very well received,” she said.

Blair Berrington said he’s happy to see the drop-off lane gone from the updated school site design. “That’s something we’re moving away from in schools,” he said.

Rebecca Ashton said she’s excited about a new school and its emphasis on “sustainability and inclusivity” in its design. Learning in that kind of environment will benefit students, she said.

The school district is currently working with the City of North Vancouver to obtain a demolition permit for the old Cloverley School.

Under the school district’s timeline, the hope is to have the old school building demolished by April, with construction contracts being awarded by August and work on the new school starting in the fall of 2024. The target is to have students in the new building in September of 2026.