Community celebrates Saskatoon school, facing demolition after 60 years
It’s the end of an era for Princess Alexandra School in Saskatoon's Riversdale neighbourhood.
The 60-year-old building will be demolished this fall to make way for the construction of a new school which will combine students from Princess Alexandra, King George and Pleasant Hill schools.
The new building is set to open in 2025. In the meantime, dozens celebrated Princess Alexandra and what it has meant to the community.
Seraphine Sammy attended the school in the 80s, then saw three children and three nieces follow in her footsteps.
“It’s pretty awesome, but sad at the same time. I’m going to miss this school so much,” Sammy told CTV News.
She plans to take a walk through the halls of the school in the coming days as one final memory of the building.
“It’s going to be very emotional because this is my school and my kids’ school and it’s just going to be really sad," she says.
The celebration ceremony involved a land acknowledgment by Grade 8 student Penguin Dejarlais, who told the crowd that the land on which they stood has a rich and proud history.
The current building, built in 1962, is the third school on this site. The first was built in 1907 and the second in 1908.
“In a few short months this building will be gone and the construction of a new school will begin. This land will always be a reminder of the schools that once served this community. Despite the structure that stands here this land will always keep us connected to the past, present and future,” Dejarlais said.
Those in attendance joined in a walk to King George School on Avenue K, symbolizing the unity of the communities which will see students coming together once the new school opens.
In a ceremonial fire teaching, an ember was taken from a fire burning at the ceremony at Princess Alexandra and put in a sealed container to be taken to King George school to be placed in the new school once it opens.
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