by Sarah Benson-Lord
Trail Museum and Archives
This week, we head back to Saturday, April 23, 1949, when School District #11 trustees opened the doors to the district’s first post-war school.
James L. Webster Elementary School welcomed the public that weekend, and not a moment too soon for a community and district struggling with rapid population growth and limited facilities.
Designed and built by Vancouver architects and contractors, Webster School became the “poster child” for the board’s new construction loan bylaw campaign that promised major education infrastructure investment in the district to the tune of $3 million.
That vote took place on Thursday, April 28.
Led by the revered J. Lloyd Crowe, the school board’s aggressive print campaign in the Trail Daily Times included dramatic visuals highlighting the poor conditions experienced in over-crowded classrooms, concerns about teacher retention, lack of vocational facilities, and even Winston Churchill quotes: “We shape our buildings, and our buildings shape us”.
The ceremonial opening of the new Webster School in Warfield served as a perfect forum to showcase the tangible benefits of a strategic infrastructure program for the district.
Webster School boasted 39,000 sq. ft, 11 classrooms, library, gymnasium with stage and bleachers with a capacity of 350, staff and administration offices, a health unit, and an exterior play area.
On hand for the ceremonies were dignitaries like MLA Quinn, Local 480 President Clare Billingsley, and CM&S General Manager W.S. Kirkpatrick.
The timeliness of Webster’s opening likely secured the resounding “yes” vote for the borrowing bylaw from Rossland to Beaver Falls, including areas like Paterson and Casino only five days later.
With a result of 1,617 in favour and only 251 against, the school board set out the following priorities for the district: a new junior/senior high school (Grades 7-12) for Rossland, a new high school for Trail, completion of the Fruitvale elementary school with provisions for more grades and labs, completion of Sunningdale Elementary School, and upgrades at Central and East Trail elementary schools.
This group of trustees did not disappoint. New high schools for both Trail and Rossland opened for the 1951 school year, and Sunningdale Elementary was completed by late fall of 1949.
Read more: Warfield elementary school celebrating 70 years
With the opening of Webster and the successful vote, the community congratulated itself on both prioritizing students and their educational needs and simultaneously enhancing their property values by investing in superior educational infrastructure.
The community hoped staff recruitment and retention would improve, as well. As written by the editor, “…there will no longer be an excuse or an alibi for not turning out the finest product from our schools.”
The school was named for James Lockhart Webster, MLA for Rossland-Trail, who passed away in August 1948 while still in office.
Read more Trail Blazers:
Gyro Park, the perennial summertimehaven
Ceremony honours Trail airman, 17, and 22 others killed in Second World War
Remembering a young man from Trail who went to war and never came home
Long-lost poem recounts life of an air gunner
Colourful memories in ‘Silver City Linings’