Athabasca’s brick school is more than a stern and sturdy exemplar of early 20th-century architecture — more than the sum of its Indiana bathstone and Calgary red brick parts.
It was the first public building erected in town, and until the 1950s, it housed Athabasca’s best and brightest, along with some help from what was then a gymnasium (now the Nancy Appleby Theatre) and the less austere Stucco School (now the Alice B. Donahue Library and Archives).
The same creative drive that transformed a gymnasium into a beloved centre for the arts and a squat school into a library is needed now. To leave a serviceable piece of Athabasca’s history lying dormant is more than a shame — it shows a lack of the enterprising spirit that has always characterized the area.
The move of the school’s main tenant, Family and Community Support Services, has been impending for months, and yet Athabasca County council acknowledged only this week that a joint meeting with town council is needed to brainstorm what to do with the brick school. Granted, the existing councils were only elected in October. But now is the time for them to show they are more than a fresh configuration of representatives. Now is the time to show they have the new ideas to match.
