Tumbler Ridge school teardown begins as B.C. prepares to rebuild following mass shooting

Tumbler Ridge school teardown begins as B.C. prepares to rebuild following mass shooting

Consultations will begin this fall on the design concepts for a new school, district says

Work to tear down Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in northeast B.C. began Monday, months after a mass shooting.

Five children and one education assistant were killed at the school on Feb. 10 in one of Canada's deadliest mass shootings.

Crews have spent the last several weeks moving out the school's contents using covered trucks ahead of its physical destruction.

"This is an important milestone in the careful, staged removal of the existing school, which is expected to take a few more weeks," School District 59 superintendent Christy Fennell wrote in a letter to residents.

"After the structure is removed, work will continue through the fall to restore the site to grass."

The school district says the teardown will be done in stages to minimize disruption.

Demolition waste will be taken to regional landfills and not remain in the community to protect privacy, it said.

Unsealed docs shed new light on Tumbler Ridge, B.C., mass shooting

In May, Premier David Eby announced plans to replace the school "as quickly as possible" at a new location, which has yet to be announced.

The federal and provincial governments have committed $200 million toward the new school and upgrades to the community's health centre.

Tumbler Ridge is home to about 2,400 people, and about 160 students across grades 7 to 12 attended the secondary school, which also included a college campus.

Since the shooting, temporary portable classrooms have been set up on the grounds of the local elementary school.

More modular campus facilities — including washrooms, offices, counselling spaces, and a gathering area — are being brought in for the 2026-27 school year.

The school district says it will consult with students and residents on conceptual designs for a new secondary school in the fall.

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Matt Preprost is a reporter with CBC British Columbia based in Fort St. John. He has covered the B.C Peace region and Northern Rockies since 2013. Email him at fsj@cbc.ca