Site7 Social History of Building - South Park School/Victoria British Columbia

South Park School - SOCIAL HISTORY OF BUILDING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SITE CONTENTS

LOCATION MAP

MEASURED DRAWINGS

TEACHER'S CORNER

ARCHITECTURAL
INFORMATION

DESIGN TEAM

HOME

The year after British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871, Legislature passed the Free School Act (Douglas Franklin and John Fleming. Early School Architecture in British Columbia to 1930. p. 7) Under this Act, central authority was given to the provincial Board of Education, to make decisions on salaries and maintenance costs. This was introduced due to the lack of funds allocated to schools in the previous years. In places like Victoria, schools were closed for almost two years, due to schools being under funded. The Free School Act assigned the Provincial Government the responsibility to pay all the construction costs for new buildings in British Columbia, for the next twenty-four years (Douglas Franklin and John Fleming. Early School Architecture in British Columbia to 1930. p. 7)

Although the Provincial Board of Education was in charge of the provision of school facilities, many of the earliest schoolhouses were built by local school districts. These early settlement schools were built from wood and the construction techniques were by tradition and folk culture (Douglas Franklin and John Fleming. Early School Architecture in British Columbia: An Architectural History and Inventory of Buidings to 1930. p. 8). Most often these schools were made from a log, timber, and frame construction (Douglas Franklin and John Fleming. Early School Architecture in British Columbia: An Architectural History and Inventory of Buidings to 1930. p. 8). A good example is Craigflower School in Saanich.

During this time, school building in Victoria became a focus among architects and the Board of Education. To accommodate the expanding school population, after the announcement of the Free School Act, several schools were reopened and upgraded. New schools were being built to accommodate the expanding student population. One of these new schools was South Ward School, now named South Park Elementary School.

Since completion in 1894 through to the present day, South Park Elementary has had a remarkable history. Currently, it is the oldest operational school in the Capital District and has undergone no significant alternations since the time it was constructed. The school was designated as a Heritage Building by the City of Victoria on October 26, 1978 (Douglas Franklin and John Fleming. Early School Architecture in British Columbia: An Architectural History and Inventory of Buidings to 1930. p. 96).

Last updated 31 August 1998.
This digital collection was produced under contract to the Canada's Digital Collections Program, Industry Canada.
Produced by Canada's Digital Collections Team.
Content provided by BC Heritage Trust and Heritage Branch, Province of British Columbia.