If the project starts this summer and takes three years to complete, no students who attended the K-5 school when the fire broke out will return
The B.C. government will rebuild a Port Coquitlam elementary school destroyed by fire in 2023.
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On Wednesday evening, PoCo Mayor Brad West and Coquitlam school district chair Michael Thomas confirmed the province would be funding the reconstruction of Hazel Trembath Elementary School in the 1100-block of Winslow Avenue.
“I am not sure if that gave them the final nudge they needed,” said a jubilant West on Wednesday night.
West said he made the threat to withhold taxes after noting the rebuild was not mentioned in Tuesday’s provincial budget among a list of school projects. He said the community feared the school would not be rebuilt.
“That was a cause for concern,” West said. “We have been waiting 16 months for something that should be really straight forward.”
In a social media post, Thomas said there needed to be a better process to respond to “extraordinary situations like this.”
“Families shouldn’t be left in limbo when disaster strikes their neighbourhood school. But that’s a conversation for another day. Today we’ll just celebrate this win for our community.”
West said the city would now pressure the B.C. Ministry of Infrastructure to complete the project as soon as possible.
If the project starts this summer and takes three years to complete, no students who attended the K-5 school when the fire broke out will return.
