KGV Meets the Wrecking Ball

By 250 News

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Two earth movers punched, pulled and pushed, but it took more than an hour for the building known as King George V School to come crashing down.  "We knew the upstairs hallway was going to be a problem" says Steve Johansen, the  owner of Western Thermal, the company that had the  job of tearing down the school.  The two walls of that upper hallway added extra support to the roof says Johansen.

"She just didn’t want to let go" says Johansen, as he watched two earth movers push, and push and push  to try and get the building to topple.   The tear down a necessity as the site will be part of a new Duchess Park High School.  During the dismantling of the building,  a bank of windows and a piece of the centre stairway were saved,  they will be made part of a commemorative  display in the new school.  But there were some things missing from the  building.  "We didn’t find any insulation in the ceiling or in the walls" says Johansen.

The tear down  has been done in stages.  The old gymnasium building went first,  now the  old centre core, and the newest addition will be torn down once it has been cleared of asbestos.

The  School  was the centre of a major effort to restore then preserve, then move, and finally commemorate.

The core part of the school was  designed and built in 1922 by a Mayor of the City.  The school was considered the jewel of the Crescents neighbourhood.

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