An old school is going to have students in the halls again - but Squamish's Army Cadets are now Britannia Beach's as a result.
The Sixth Field Engineers 2277 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps is moving from Squamish Elementary School to the Britannia Beach school, which has been closed for about 20 years.
"It's going to involve a lot of clean up and repair on our behalf," said Jill Smith, the deputy commanding officer for the corps.
They have a lot of work to do before they can move into the building on Nov. 1.
"We must produce running water," Smith said. "We're trying to locate the plumber."
The water was shut off when the school closed, and although the plumbing looks fine, the cadets can't get water flowing.
The army cadets have to move because they can no longer afford the rent at Squamish Elementary school. The Britannia Beach Historical Society, which owns the school in Britannia Beach, is giving the cadets what Smith called a "generous" deal on rent.
Rent at Squamish Elementary doubled last year, and this year it went up another 10 per cent. There was also no place for the cadets to store their equipment at Squamish Elementary so the corps was forced to rent storage.
"We can't afford the expenses involved," Smith said. "We're a small corps. There are only 24 students in the program, and several dropped out because they were overworked fundraising."
The cadets were exhausted with training, weekend excursions, and the fundraising on top of their other activities.
However, Smith noted the school had been "wonderful" and accommodating, and many local service groups like the Legion and the Rotary provided support to the cadets.
The cadets have been shuffled around more than once over the past few years. The cadets moved from the old Legion building to a B.C. Rail building, and then to Squamish Elementary.
"We're hoping this is going to be a positive thing," Smith said. "At the school we'll have storage and the gym to be able to provide more training."
However, the move has not been without its detractors. It's out of town and removed from the community the cadets are supposed to serve.
"Eighty per cent of our cadet parents may be unable to transport that distance," Smith said.
Smith is frustrated that the cadets have to leave their community because of the cadet mandate."Part of our mandate is to train responsible community leaders," she said.
The cadets have served at bike races, and in past years did traffic control for the Test of Metal. They also helped during the flooding last year.
"It's something we don't take lightly when we do that," said Amy Shoup, the school board chairperson, of the rent increase. "The rates that we change are a cost recovery rate."
Costs for heating, lighting, insurance and custodial services rose, so the board had to raise the rent, Shoup said.
