Today's Throwback Thursday takes us back to a time long before the current redevelopment of Victoria Hill in New Westminster began. Sitting more or less on the grounds of the recently completed The Royal at Victoria Hill by ONNI Group, the new townhouse development was once the site of the infamous Woodlands School for unwanted and disabled children, which operated between 1950 and 1996. 

Woodlands School for unwanted and disabled children (1950-1996), public domain archival image

Run by the provincial government for nearly half a century, the Woodlands School was home to thousands of children and adults, many of whom had been abandoned at birth due to having been diagnosed with a mental or physical disability.

Woodlands School demolition underway in August, 2011, E Royal Dr, image via Google Street View

A site of exceptional cruelty according to recent lawsuits by survivors, the Woodlands School was reportedly responsible for performing all sorts of bizarre medical tests and experiments, often with long-lasting ill-effects on the health and well-being of former residents. 

The Royal at Victoria Hill, image by Forum contributor City of Rain

Today the site of a massive residential development, including the aforementioned The Royal at Victoria Hill, which occupies the former Woodlands School site, the first steps have now been made towards erasing this dark chapter from New Westminster's past. 

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