The old Belmont Secondary School may be thought of as just a crumbling, worn-out building by some people, but it still has a lot to give.
In fact, at least 70 per cent of the material that makes up the facility on Jacklin Road will likely be saved for reuse during demolition — not bad for an institution that has one area close to 65 years old and has been roundly written off.
Sooke school district superintendent Jim Cambridge said the contract with the demolition company puts an emphasis on recycling as much as possible. The company profits from whatever it finds to save.
“Everybody thinks about the gym floors and laminated beams and, of course, they’ll all be used,” Cambridge said.
“Windows, doors, all of those things hopefully will be resold and used somewhere else.”
District workers have been salvaging everything they can from the Langford school site. Things like hinges and light fixtures are being removed and will go to other sites, Cambridge said.
“We’ve got a fantastic facilities staff,” he said.
“They’ve been going through and they’ll say, ‘Well, we have the same vintage hardware in Sangster Elementary, so let’s grab 10 doorknobs.’ ”
Pete Godau, the district’s director of facilities, said the approach is typical of tear-downs today.
All manner of material can be reused, Godau said, noting that when the district’s Glen Lake Elementary was demolished a few years ago someone bought the entire wooden roof, taking it in sections.
Despite its age, the old Belmont building served the district well, he said. “It wouldn’t have been housing 1,500 students if it wasn’t up to a certain standard.”
Much of the flooring is still in great shape, even some with a 1950s vintage, and will be used again, Godau said. He said the gym floors will sell instantly and be used to refloor houses.
“All the block and concrete gets crushed and used as structural fill, so that’s considered recycled,” he said. “They’ll sell fencing, they’ll sell galvanized poles. All the copper, of course, will get recycled, any metal will get recycled.”
Items such as older desks and tables that aren’t going to the new Belmont school have been offered to the Compassionate Resource Warehouse, which ships items to people in need around the world.
The demolition will also include the removal of asbestos, in place because of past construction practices. The asbestos has been carefully contained over the years, Godau said.
The job of tearing down the old Belmont should be complete in about six months, he said.
And as the building comes down, the two new high schools being built to take its place — a new Belmont Secondary on Glen Lake Road and Royal Bay Secondary in Colwood — are in the final stages of construction and set to open Sept. 8.
Work crews will be at the two new schools right up to the first day of the coming term — and beyond, Cambridge said.
To ensure all of the finishing touches get done, procedures such as timetable changes and registration of new students are taking place at the old Belmont, he said.
It could be a few weeks into the school term before Royal Bay’s community theatre can be used, Cambridge said, and the track might not be quite ready at first.
The new Belmont will also need some work after opening day, with the applied-skills wing, including shop areas and the band room, not due to be finished until the end of September
“That was a decision that we made to make sure the academic wings were ready to go, and the common spaces.”
