Burnaby South and Burnaby North were Burnaby's first high schools. The first rooms of the school were built in 1922 on the same grounds as the Kingsway East Elementary School. In 1940, a two-storey building was erected and additions were made in 1963, 1967 and 1972. Kingsway East closed in 1925 and its buildings were used by the high school for Industrial Arts and Home Economics. In the early 1990s, a new "urban education centre" (Burnaby South/B.C. School for the Deaf) was opened, replacing the old Burnaby South High School.
This memorial comprises a cenotaph and three tennis courts: the former a monument of British Columbia granite inscribed with the names of fifty-one students of Burnaby South High School who lost their lives in the Second World War; and the latter a living memorial to these former students.
This memorial comprises a cenotaph and three tennis courts: the former a monument of British Columbia granite inscribed with the names of fifty-one students of Burnaby South High School who lost their lives in the Second World War; and the latter a living memorial to these former students.
Heritage Value
This memorial is important for its spiritual, symbolic, and cultural associations for the former students of Burnaby South High School, and for all youth in the community. The cenotaph is of personal significance to the families of those who lost their lives.
The unusual combination of cenotaph and living memorial - the tennis courts - represents a rare statement of a community's commitment to not allow the sacrifice of its youth to be forgotten by providing an active facility which draw people to the place on a regular basis rather than just on occasions of remembrance. As such it is an important symbol of a humanitarian ethic.
In combination with the Kingsway East School, now rehabilitated as the Alan Emmott Centre, this memorial represents a valuable haven of green-space and recreation in the high-density urban development that now surrounds it.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Burnaby South High School Cenotaph & Memorial Tennis Courts include the:
- location of the cenotaph adjacent to the living memorial
- spatial association of this memorial and the remaining school building
- physical fabric of both the granite monument and the tennis courts
P.I.D. No. 016-367-154
Legal Description: Lot 1, District Lot 96, Group 1 New Westminster District, Plan 86581
Boundaries
Burnaby South High School Cenotaph & Memorial Tennis Courts is comprised of a single municipally-owned property located at 6650 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby.
Area
6,070.00
Contributing Resource
Building
Landscape Feature
Structure
Ownership
Public (local)
Documentation
Heritage Site Files: PC77000 20. City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2
Photograph of the students and staff at Burnaby South High School. Thomas "Tom" Chalmers is 7th from the left in the front row, to the right of the boy wearing a bow tie. Gladys Robins has also been identified as being the girl wearing the striped shirt in the third row from the bottom, third over…
Photograph of the students and staff at Burnaby South High School. Thomas "Tom" Chalmers is 7th from the left in the front row, to the right of the boy wearing a bow tie. Gladys Robins has also been identified as being the girl wearing the striped shirt in the third row from the bottom, third over from the left.
Photograph of an unidentified class of teenaged girls and a female teacher. They are standing on the stairs or sitting on chairs laid out in front of the stairs to a double door to the school. The teacher is sitting on the right side of the photograph in the front row. All the girls have short hai…
Photograph of an unidentified class of teenaged girls and a female teacher. They are standing on the stairs or sitting on chairs laid out in front of the stairs to a double door to the school. The teacher is sitting on the right side of the photograph in the front row. All the girls have short hair, either parted and straight or bobbed. They are wearing loose fitting dresses with stockings. Some have scarves, ties and/or beads. The inscription and the signed gift form from the donor identify the photograph as a class at Burnaby South Highschool, from 1925. Inscribed on the negative and printed on the lower left of the photo: "#6." Annotated on the back of the photo: "1925 / B South." Stamped on the back of the photo: "Lloyd's Studio / 3966 Kingsway / McKay, B.C. Carl. 343R2."
Photograph a group of unidentifed students from Burnaby South High School. Photograph is taken at the front entrance of the school with the sign "Burnaby.South / High School" on the wall above the entrance way. Edith Louise Fleming graduated from Burnaby South High School in June 1956.
Photograph a group of unidentifed students from Burnaby South High School. Photograph is taken at the front entrance of the school with the sign "Burnaby.South / High School" on the wall above the entrance way. Edith Louise Fleming graduated from Burnaby South High School in June 1956.
Photograph of four women at the Burnaby South High School Alumni Tea; Verna Potkins Campbell, Vera Jackson Pel, Barbara McLean Kirk, and Francis Phillips Stefanini.
Photograph of four women at the Burnaby South High School Alumni Tea; Verna Potkins Campbell, Vera Jackson Pel, Barbara McLean Kirk, and Francis Phillips Stefanini.
Item is the 1932 Burnaby South High School Annual. Winnifred Bailey attended Kingsway West School and was a member of class seven in 1932. Her entry in the annual reads: "B is for Bailey- how she loves her Lit. / Through every period she hardly can sit."
Item is the 1932 Burnaby South High School Annual. Winnifred Bailey attended Kingsway West School and was a member of class seven in 1932. Her entry in the annual reads: "B is for Bailey- how she loves her Lit. / Through every period she hardly can sit."
Photograph of participants in the Burnaby South High School annual concert, February 7, 1927. The concert was held at the Burnaby Public Hall next to the old Municipal Hall, Edmonds and Kingsway. Identified: (back row, 11th from left) Una Patience; (12th from left) Ethel Beamish; (front row, from…
Photograph of participants in the Burnaby South High School annual concert, February 7, 1927. The concert was held at the Burnaby Public Hall next to the old Municipal Hall, Edmonds and Kingsway. Identified: (back row, 11th from left) Una Patience; (12th from left) Ethel Beamish; (front row, from right, behind piano) C.G. Brown (principal), Mr. Green, Mr. Smith and Mr. Black (teachers)