Schou Street School

Heritage Value: This school was built to replace tents and temporary buildings that had previously been used for the local children of the Broadview neighbourhood. The site was donated to the School Board in 1911 by the real estate firm of Leibly & Blumer in anticipation of increased settlement in the district. The school was named after the street, which had been named after Nicolai Schou, Burnaby’s second Reeve. Originally designed in the Arts and Crafts style, the character of the school was altered in 1964 when its original siding was covered in stucco and the windows were replaced, but has retained its original form and massing, including its front gabled entrance with recessed doorway and twinned square columns. Of special note is the name of the school above the front entry.This school was designed by Joseph H. Bowman (1864-1943), a specialist in school buildings, who was retained as the school board architect for South Vancouver and Burnaby. One of his first designs for Burnaby was a utilitarian two-storey school that could be built with two classrooms and later expanded to eight rooms as the district’s school population grew; five schools from this design were built in 1908, and then four others in modified versions between 1910-16, including this school.

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