Rebirth of Langley Secondary School
August 15, 2019
The next time you drive along 56th avenue near 216th in Langley, you’ll probably see the new Langley Secondary School (LSS) behind what’s left of the old school.
“It’s not every day that we build a secondary school, and it’s not every day that we tear parts of a secondary school down,” said Langley Secondary School principal Marcello Moino.
On Wednesday, Moino was one of a group made up of former students, teachers and some District staff, lined up along 56 avenue in Langley waiting to watch the oldest part of LSS undergo demolition.
After two-and-a-half years of phased reconstruction, parts of the oldest secondary school in Langley is coming down.
“The original part of the school 70 years ago, the main hallway of the school, as well as the science wing, kind of like a ‘T’, are being torn down. They will keep some sections of the old school but all sections of the original school are being torn down,” explained Moino.
It’s a bittersweet day. The school is an important part of Langley’s history.
“Two months ago, we had LSS’ 110th anniversary and I think that’s when we saw how much this school specifically meant to the entire community. We had literally thousands of people walk through the halls so that they can be here one last time to relive some of those old high school experiences, to reconnect with friends, to just recreate some of those incredibly positive feelings that they had over the course of seven decades at this school,” said Moino reflecting back on the anniversary event held in June.
Although it’s sad to see the old building come down, he believes the change is for the better.
“A building is a physical space but it’s the people that create that space and make it more than just a thing. They create a school and it’s through relationships that they create that school. So, with the tearing down of this, in many ways we are saying goodbye to our past. But again, the exciting part, it’s not goodbye to LSS forever, LSS is being reborn again. The cool part is it’s being reborn in a way that for 21st century education, for the next 70 years at least, LSS will be around but will be on the cutting edge of education.”
It will take about a week for crews to complete the demolition project. For more info about Langley Secondary School go here.