Families hold rally calling for rebuild of Port Coquitlam school destroyed in fire

Rally for the rebuild of Hazel Trembath school Families from a school in Port Coquitlam that burned down in October 2023 rally to put pressure on government to rebuild the facility.

Eight months since a devastating fire ripped through Hazel Trembath Elementary School in Port Coquitlam, the lot now sites empty with gravel.

As the school year comes to a close, families gathered at the site Tuesday demanding answers for the future of their children.

"We haven’t heard what’s going on," Anand Kanna, a parent of a Hazel Trembath student, said. "Are we getting a new school? Are we going to turn this into vast parkland? Are we going to split our community up even further."

Dozens of children and parents attended the rally, calling for the school to be rebuilt.

"We walk past this site numerous times a day to bring them to a bus stop, 'why hasn't our school been rebuilt?' And we have no answers for them," said Nicole Nobles, a parent of two boys.

Since the school burned down on Oct. 19, more than 250 students are bused 20 minutes away in Coquitlam, where the school district has converted a former administration building to temporarily host students.

"That space is not equipped to handle 200 plus kindergartens to (Grade) 5s," said parent Kim O’Niell.

"Today I got a call from the school, my daughter was sick, it took me 40 minutes to get to her, whereas my husband could have just hopped over the hill and picked her up."

Parents and children at the rally chanted, holding signs that read "rebuild Hazel" and "bring us home."

"It's been a very trying year and the students deserve to be back in their community in Port Coquitlam," said rally co-organizer, Shwana Comey.

According to Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, there had been rumours of a developer buying the land to build residential condos. But West shut down those rumours during the rally.

"I want to be crystal clear, it’s not going to happen. This site is made for one thing and one thing only, Hazel Trembath Elementary," West said during the rally.

His assurance is something the provincial education minister also supported.

"As a parent, but also the minister of education and childcare, our government (is) committed to rebuilding Trembath,” Rachna Singh told CTV News in an interview Tuesday.

But when asked when exactly a construction start date would be, she could not say.

"Any capitol project, the school district comes up with the concept plan, the business plan, so those are the processes, they the school district has to go through."

That proposed plan is expected to be delivered by the school district to the province by the end of the week.