Old Massett Village Council is planning a second life for a former elementary school in Masset.
Designed for 390 students when it opened in 1970, the former Tahayghen Elementary School was closed in June in favour of a combined kindergarten to Grade 12 school in Masset because of lower enrolment and relatively high operating costs.
The building has two gyms with a connecting stage as well as an open-concept library, offices and several large classrooms. In recent years, Coast Mountain College rented the east part of the school for adult education.
At 10.23 acres, the former Tahayghen site is the largest single parcel of land in the core of Masset.
Staff with Old Massett Village council said it’s too early yet to speak about plans for the Tahayghen site. Chief Councillor Duffy Edgars said in a press release that the transfer will support some of the projects being developed by OMVC’s lands, housing, education, and economic development offices.
“They’re excited about it, and we are too,” said Kevin Black, secretary-treasurer for the Haida Gwaii School District.
“We think it will be a good opportunity to keep a building going in the community rather than seeing it all boarded up.”
Black said the school district received several expressions of interest for the Tahayghen site in the summer of 2023, including one from OMVC that was supported by the Council of the Haida Nation.
The school district announced on Oct. 18 that it had received ministerial approval to transfer the site.
Approval by B.C.’s lands ministry was needed because although the school district owns the former school building itself, the property was originally a Crown land grant for educational purposes only.
That also meant the school district could not simply sell the former school, which has an assessed value of $5.1 million.
Black said there is still legal work to do to complete the transfer to OMVC, and there is still memorabilia at Tahayghen the district needs to move or store.
“We’re moving forward, but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” said Black, noting that in Masset, the school district is focused on finishing the Strong Start building at Daaxiigan Sḵ’adaa Née, the newly renovated K to 12 school, as well as finishing renovations at the main school building and the adjacent childcare centre.
“We’ve got 300 things we need to do still, and this is number fifty,” he said.