Executive Summary
- Scope covers exterior repaints of Rosser Elementary and the Marlborough Elementary East Building.
- Includes minor lead-based paint abatement on two schools dating to the 1920s and 1950.
- The full program must be completed before Labour Day while students are away.
- Work restores and protects aging school envelopes for another decade or two.
- Reinforces Spectrum’s institutional restoration and coatings capability across Metro Vancouver.
Spectrum Painting and Restorations is pleased to announce the award of exterior repainting work at two Burnaby elementary schools, Rosser Elementary and the Marlborough Elementary East Building, on behalf of Burnaby School District No. 41. The work was awarded directly by the District and is scheduled for the summer of 2026.
Both buildings are long-standing neighbourhood schools that have served Burnaby families for generations. The scope is straightforward in principle, an exterior repaint that keeps the buildings looking cared for, but the underlying work matters. Recoating an aged exterior protects the substrate, extends the service life of the envelope, and keeps these schools in good condition for the students who will pass through them over the next decade and beyond.
For Spectrum Painting and Restorations, these are meaningful projects. The schools are not large or complex in the way a hospital or transit facility is, but they are the buildings a community grows up in, and the goal is simple: restore and protect them properly so they stay sound and presentable for years to come.
Project Overview
Rosser Elementary occupies one of the oldest school buildings still in use in Burnaby.
The building at 4375 Pandora Street opened in 1923 as North Burnaby’s first high school and became Rosser in 1945. It remains a small K-7 school with a strong community identity and a building that carries genuine heritage character. Marlborough Elementary, at 6060 Marlborough Avenue, was built in 1950 as one of the first elementary schools constructed during Burnaby’s postwar housing boom, and it expanded through several additions in the decades that followed. The current work is focused on Marlborough’s East Building.
Both schools are owned and operated by Burnaby School District No. 41, one of the larger public school districts in British Columbia. The District maintains an aging portfolio of facilities, and periodic exterior maintenance of this kind is part of keeping those buildings safe, weather-protected, and fit for continued use.
Because both schools are occupied during the academic year, the exterior work is scheduled for the summer break, when students and staff are away. This gives the District a clean window to complete visible improvements without disrupting learning, and it puts a firm deadline on the work.
Spectrum Painting and Restorations Scope of Work
Spectrum’s scope on this program includes:
- Exterior surface preparation across both schools, including cleaning, scraping, and priming of aged and previously coated surfaces
- Minor lead-based paint abatement and paint stabilization, handled under appropriate containment and safe-work procedures given the age of the buildings
- Repair and preparation of weathered exterior detailing and older assemblies not found on modern schools
- Application of protective exterior coatings to restore appearance and shield the building envelope from weather and further deterioration
- Full exterior repaint of Rosser Elementary and the Marlborough Elementary East Building
Quantities are being confirmed with the District. Where lead-based paint is present, the work is treated as an abatement task rather than a straight repaint, with the handling and disposal that requires.
Project Complexity
The defining challenge on this program is schedule. Spectrum Painting and Restorations was awarded both schools, in the same district, for the same summer. All of the work has to be completed before Labour Day, inside the narrow window when the schools are unoccupied. Running two exterior repaints in parallel to a hard, non-negotiable deadline takes disciplined planning, crew allocation, and daily coordination.
The second challenge is the age of the buildings. These are not new schools with clean, predictable substrates. Rosser’s building dates to the 1920s and Marlborough’s to 1950, and buildings of that era carry older detailing, layered coating histories, and the intricacies that come with decades of maintenance. Preparation on surfaces like these is slower and more careful than on a modern facility, and unforeseen conditions are more likely to surface once work begins.
The presence of lead-based paint adds a further requirement. Coatings of this vintage commonly contain lead, so affected areas must be identified and addressed under proper abatement procedures, with containment and safe handling, rather than simply painted over. This is a core part of the work, not an afterthought, and it draws on the same abatement and coatings discipline Spectrum applies on its industrial and institutional projects.
Protecting the Schools Our Communities Grow Up In
Neighbourhood schools like Rosser and Marlborough are among the most-used public buildings a community owns. Keeping them protected and well maintained is a practical investment in the students who attend them and in the surrounding neighbourhoods that identify with them. Exterior recoating is not glamorous work, but it is exactly the kind of maintenance that keeps aging public buildings sound, safe, and presentable for another generation of students.
This award reflects the District’s confidence in Spectrum Painting and Restorations to deliver careful restoration work on older, occupied-during-the-year public buildings, on a fixed summer timeline. It also reinforces the company’s ongoing work across Metro Vancouver’s institutional and restoration sectors, where sound preparation, coating expertise, and reliable schedule performance matter more than square footage.
Spectrum Painting and Restorations looks forward to delivering this work for Burnaby School District No. 41 and returning both Rosser Elementary and the Marlborough Elementary East Building to the community, refreshed and protected, in time for the new school year.
