The developer who bought the Murrayville Elementary school site wants to turn the five-acre property into multi-family housing while redesigning the historic schoolhouse into a unique residential building.
Lanstone Homes is hosting an open house for the public to view its plans on Wednesday, Nov. 22 from noon to 8 p.m. at the Murrayville School (Library).
Lanstone Homes proposes to amend the Murrayville Community Plan by redesigning the former Murrayville School property at 21812 48 Ave. from a civic institutional zoning to multi-family land use designation.
Lanstone wants to build 48 single storey and 1.5 storey townhouses with master bedrooms on the main floor. It will also include the restoration and conversion of the original Murrayville school house into six residential units.
To do that, the applicant is asking for a Heritage Alteration Permit.
“The preservation of the original Belmont Superior School is one of our objectives in planning for the redevelopment of this property,” said Lanson Foster of Lanstone Homes.
“Our goal is to come up with a plan for the site that respects community character. We were able to do that quite successfully with our McBride Station development in Fort Langley. The heritage of the school site here in Murrayville has some exciting possibilities.”
The schoolhouse was built in 1911. It was composed of two rooms staffed by three teachers, with both elementary and high school students being taught there, according to the Langley Retired Teachers Association.
SEE SCHOOL HISTORY HERE
It was in 2016, that the Langley board of education voted to sell off four unused school sites, including Murrayville Elementary, which was closed nearly a decade ago and has sat empty, used mainly for filming.
RELATED STORY HERE
For more information about the development proposal go to murrayvilleschoolhouse.ca or contact Kurt Alberts at 604-888-4395.
