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By Mike Vanden Bosch

Property acquisition

Chilliwack Board of Education to consider buying church for future expansion of nearby school sites

Jun 13, 2025 | 5:38 PM

CHILLIWACK — At a time when land is at a premium, the Chilliwack Board of Education is set to consider a motion at its meeting this week that could see SD33 purchase a church just off Yale Road and use it to expand one of two nearby schools.

According to agenda item 5.1 at Tuesday’s meeting, trustees will be tasked with approving a motion to acquire Christ Lutheran Church Chilliwack at 9460 Charles Street on a 0.73-acre parcel for $3,040,000.

District staff wrote in a report attached to the agenda that student enrolment in SD33 has increased over the past five years and many schools are operating at or above capacity. At the same time, there is ongoing densification of Chilliwack’s urban area, coupled with development of Chilliwack-area First Nations lands for housing. The district notes there is corresponding pressure to make additions to existing schools or build new schools, which is what SD33 is currently doing out in Rosedale on McGrath Road with the forthcoming East Side Elementary.

SD33 says leadership from Christ Lutheran Church Chilliwack approached the school district about their site, which is adjacent to Chilliwack Middle School. Due to growth in this area, the school district anticipates using the site for expansion of the existing school, and says the site represents one of the few potentially available sites in downtown Chilliwack.

“Given it is adjacent to the middle school and across the road from the high school, the site provides the school district with several options for future expansion,” the district wrote in its report. “Today, we present to the board an agreement to purchase the property from the Church congregation.”

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Chilliwack School District does not have immediate plans to utilize the site and proposes to lease the property back to the congregation for continued operation as a church and community meeting space. As a result, district staff recommend that the board approve the purchase of 9460 Charles Street and lease it back to the congregation of Christ Lutheran Church.

The site consists of a church building and parking lot.

The school board will need to unanimously approve all three readings of two separate motions for the purchase of the property and the subsequent lease.

According to BC Assessment, Christ Lutheran Church was built in 1970 and has a current assessed value of $2,886,300.