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January 2003 West Vancouver Historical Society Page 7 WHEN OLDER IS BETTER Bob Young We are delighted to welcome a newcomer to our pages. Bob Young is the, Director of Facilities at the West Vancouver School District # 45, who has written the following article about the oldest school in West Vancouver.- Hollybum School. Many of our readers possibly attended Hollyburn in their younger years, or had children or grandchildren who enjoyed being there. W e are sure you willfind his story ofgreat interest arui hope that some of you will write to us with your own memories of bygone school days. Hollybum School, at 1329 Duchess Avenue in West Vancouver, is getting a new (old) look. Confusing? Let me explain. When the original school was built in 1912, the exterior wood siding was done in the craftsman style that has become so popular again in the last few years. However, in a letter to the School Board in 1956, the Parent Teacher Association complained that "the old Hollybum School is somewhat of an eyesore in our community" and spoke of the "dilapidated exterior of West Vancouver’s oldest school". The letter continued by saying "It does not seem fair, inasmuch as we are all taxpayers in West Vancouver, that our children should have to attend a school whose appearance they feel ashamed of. So what was the School Board going to do about it? Hollybum School: The "new" wider boards put on in 1956 treasure waiting to be found and immediately, Mike Mann, our Facilities Suprvisor, hatched a plan to remove the modem siding and restore the original siding under- neath back to the way it looked in 1912. With Hollybum School being the oldest school in West Van- couver and, with the School's 90th birthday approaching, a heritage restoration of the School's exterior just seemed like the right thing to do. Using funds from our maintenance and repair budget, in the summer of 2001 we tackled the east side of the old school facing the courtyard - the theory being that if it didn't work out very well, probably it wouldn't be noticed by too many people. (See before, during and after pictures accompanying this article.) It was a great success and even though we had to replicate some of the Hollybum School: During renovations in 2001 According to memos on the subject, several options were considered, one of which was to cover the siding with stucco - aren't you glad that wasn't the final solution? Another solution was to use a blow torch and remove all the existing paint and re-paint the school; but that was considered too expensive. In the end, the option chosen was to cover over the old "dilapidated: siding with new wider cedar boards what would give it the "modem" look. Everyone was happy and most thought that would be the end of the story. However, it was in the spring of 2001 that the Hollybum School siding saga came to life again. The new modem siding was now, too, starting to look "dilapi- dated" and while our Facilitates Department carpenters were effecting siding repairs, they discovered the old original narrow board siding underneath and noticed that it was in better shape than the newer boards. This was a older siding to restore it and rebuild the window sills and some other trim, our carpenters lovingly applied their skills to the task and our paint crew finished the job - to the delight of the teachers, parents, neighbours and School Board alike. Emboldened by our earlier success, last summer (2002) we completed the whole south end of the school facing Duchess Avenue, leaving only the west side to do in the spring of 2003 - just in time, we hope, for the School's birthday celebrations. Stay tuned for news of the party, or if you can't wait, please come and see the new (old) look of Hollybum School at any time. Our School District Facilities Department is proud of this heritage restoration of the oldest school in West Vancouver and we leave it as a legacy for the whole community to enjoy. Yes, sometimes, older is better! PHOTOS: Courtesy West Vancouver Facilities Dept. See page 8 for more