Historic Ioco School one step closer to re-opening as 150-space daycare

Port Moody’s century-old Ioco School is a step closer to welcoming children through its doors again.

On July 28, council unanimously approved permits to transform the long-vacant heritage building into a 150-space child care centre, clearing the way for the Coquitlam School Distrction to move toward the building permit stage.

“I am also excited to see this area come back to life,” Coun. Kyla Knowles said. “Literally, it’s quite dead and dusty and brown in that area right now. And I think having a bunch of happily playing children will be lovely.”

With heritage alteration and an environmental development permits now approved, School District 43 has a green light to renovate the former school and its gymnasium at 101 First Ave. The project will preserve the building’s heritage character while upgrading its mechanical and electrical systems, seismic integrity and accessibility.

The approval follows a $13.9-million funding announcement from the provincial government last September through the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund, supported by federal funding under the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

The renovated facility will include 36 spaces for infants and toddlers, 66 for children aged three to five, and 48 before- and after-school spaces for school-aged children.

A non-profit operator will run the facility, with families able to access provincial affordability programs. When funding was announced last year, the province said those programs could reduce fees by as much as $900 per child per month.

The project gives a new purpose to one of the remaining landmarks of the historic Ioco Townsite.

Built in 1921, Ioco School was constructed as Imperial Oil developed a company town around its isolated refinery. It opened on Oct. 1 of that year with capacity for 100 students, offering classes from Grade 1 through university entrance. The school later became an elementary school and then an alternate school before closing in 2005.

The original school served a community of workers living around the oil refinery before the area on Port Moody’s north shore had road access. It was designed by architect Henry Whittaker, who served as the chief architect for the province’s public works department for over 30 years.

The school district has continued maintaining the building during the more than two decades it has sat unused.

“Since its closure in 2005, the 1921 Ioco Schoolhouse, a designated heritage landmark in Port Moody, has long awaited a second act,” the district said in a message presented to council.
Coun. Diana Dilworth credited the district with keeping that second act possible.

“I want to give extreme gratification to the school district who have literally spent decades committing and maintaining the integrity, and all the appropriate care, to keep this building in a space where it can be reused,” Dilworth said.

She noted council has dealt with other historic buildings that deteriorated because they were not adequately maintained.

The Ioco School is a protected heritage property within the Ioco Townsite Heritage Conservation Area, meaning alterations require city approval to ensure its historic characteristics are preserved.

A heritage consultant has worked with city staff on the plans and will continue overseeing the building during construction. The renovation will retain the school’s wood-frame structure and exterior character-defining elements while adapting the interior for child care.

Coun. Amy Lubik called the project “a new chapter” in the history of the site.

“There’s so much importance in preserving those buildings because it captures the stories of how we got where we are,” she said.

Mayor Meghan Lahti suggested some of that history could also be incorporated into the renovated facility, potentially through a plaque acknowledging the origins of the building.

The project will also include outdoor play and covered areas and an exterior accessibility ramp.

Twenty parking spaces are planned, including two accessible spaces and four with electric-vehicle chargers. Normally, a child care facility of its size would require at least 33 spaces, but the city’s zoning bylaw provides an exemption for renovations or changes of use involving protected heritage buildings.

Traffic and parking have previously been identified as concerns surrounding the project. The district will build a new multi-use path along First Avenue, complementing another path along Ioco Road being delivered through a city capital project. A traffic impact assessment and transportation demand management plan will also be completed and implemented at the building permit stage.

When the district consulted the public on potentially reopening Ioco School as a child care facility, it received 75 survey responses from residents primarily in Port Moody and Coquitlam. According to city staff, the most common question was when the facility would open.

No firm opening date has yet been announced.

Coun. Haven Lurbiecki said the historic townsite is an ideal setting for the facility, providing both an outdoor environment for children and an opportunity to learn about the area’s history.

“It’s going to deliver much needed childcare,” Lurbiecki said, “and I just can’t wait for it to be finished.”