I’ve never been very nostalgic… like, at all, about places or things. Things get lost and places get torn down when they lose their usefulness, and there’s really nothing you can do about it — things and places eventually disappear, or they change so much that they might as well have just vanished off the face of the earth.

Basically, I don’t spend much time or effort into pining away for a building I used to live in, or a thing I used to own. Everything fades away eventually, including memories of the things and places we used to haunt, it’s just what happens.

I was actually surprised, however, when the school board decided to get rid of the high school I attended so, so, so many years ago. I was even more surprised… and even disappointed with what they had planned for the new school — a much smaller version of VCI, with tiny windows and a gym too small to fit spectators [my original critique here]. But I wasn’t hung up on the idea / concept of losing something. I spent my high school years there, I did my time, I still have a few memories — both good and bad, and I miss some of the people I was there with… heck, I even fell in love with one of them, I just don’t miss the building itself. I guess I miss the potential that we all had when we were younger, but definitely not the building.

VCI, our local high school — formally known as L’École secondaire Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (ESVCI) when we shared it with the local Francophone community, was torn down in 2011 [here] with little to no consultation with locals or the people who actually used it. I think the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB), located almost 200kms from Vankleek Hill, used asbestos and costs for upkeep and renovation as excuses for the demolition. But there was very little asbestos, and the costs were less than a new building.

The UCDSB [home here] even wanted to build the new school outside of Vankleek Hill. Thankfully, with a lot (LOT) of pushback from the local community, the school was rebuilt in Vankleek Hill.

…I’ve posted some of these photos over the years, I think this is the third time I’ve posted the photo of the empty chair [here and here], but most of these I’ve never posted at all. I also have waaaaaaay more photos of the destruction and pulverization of the school… they literally turned it into dust and dirt that they then sold it all off by the truckload as “fill”, I’ll post those soon.

…anyway, just click on the first photo to get the carousel going — comments are always welcome, they’re absolutely free to make and, as far as I know, the Government is no longer keeping track of what you write.