Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Eastern Kings Consolidated School 1974-2011

    Eastern Kings Community Center, mentioned in the previous post, is a newer building, built on the site of the former Eastern Kings Consolidated School which was built in 1974 and demolished in 2011 - the site is green space today.  Here's an image of the school and excerpt from the following website  http://vre2.upei.ca/cap/node/322
     “Eastern Kings Consolidated School is located on Munn’s Road. The land for the school was purchased from Mrs. James Jardine in 1969 and the new school was built in 1974-1975.  The school was a prominent symbol in Eastern Kings for 34 years, until it was closed by the Eastern School Board, in 2009 because of the small number of students then attending.  The school was later demolished in 2010/2011.  The first year the school opened the student number started off at 175 and slowly went to down to 55 students in its last year of operation. During the entirety if its running it was not only a used as a school but; it housed the local Community School classes, it was used as the Eastern Kings Cap Site, it held many extra curricular activities including; sports, concerts, pot luck dinners, meet and greet sessions, and much more.  The school was known on the island as “small school”, with few students, but, many believe this to be the reason for the excess of school spirit and closeness felt by not only the students and staff, but by everyone in the community of Eastern Kings.  The land was donated back to the community and the existing students moved to Souris Consolidated School, to continue their studies.”
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     On June 20th, 1994, the annual dinner and awards presentation of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation was held at this school on Munn's Road.   Arnold Smith and I were recipients of a Publishing Award from the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation for the book, Heritage Designs: Homes, Inns & Cottages of Prince Edward Islandpresented by the Hon. Marion Reid, Lt. Governor of Prince Edward Island.  
     Below is a photo of the presentation.  L-R: Ed MacDonald, Lt. Governor Reid, Arnold and myself (Carter).
     Below is the award citation by Dr. Ed MacDonald, Curator of History, PEIMHF:
     "Over the past few decades, the single greatest factor in shaping the Island's landscape has been modern house construction.  Unfortunately, mass-produced, "off-the-shelf" house plans are unsympathetic to the historic landscape.  Those wanting to build a house base on an authentic Island model have had to commission expensive custom designs.  
     Until now.
     Carter Jeffery and Arnold Smith investigated a number of historic Island houses, both existing and vanished.  They have published their findings in a small, well researched, lovingly assembled publication called Heritage Designs, which also serves as a guide to ordering full building plans.
     In plans ranging from the modest to the magnificent, Jeffery and Smith are seeking to preserve and enhance the Island's evocative landscape by encouraging new construction sympathetic to historic models."

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