In my last column, I wrote about how the town could work to optimize its real-estate assets to save taxpayers money by generating passive income.
But building a great town is about more than just the finances. We also need to think about quality of life.
Two recent stories caught my eye, are closely related, and speak to this need to maximize real estate in town for public use.
Let me explain.
The first piece of the puzzle is the ongoing discussions town council is having related to a future use for the old Bradford High School on Queen Street, with proposals for converting the historic 7,500-square-foot building on roughly an acre of land into an arts space or condos being considered.
Nearby, as BradfordToday writer Miriam King reported, the town is also considering what to do with the old St. Mary’s Hall on Frederick Street and the Helping Hand Food Bank building just north on Moore Street.
The second story is not as discussed, yet, but it should be soon.
The Simcoe County District School Board recently held a meeting about the overcrowding in Bradford West Gwillimbury schools.
Our public schools are operating at more than 138 per cent capacity, meaning there are some 850 more students than spaces in the classroom. That means there are already enough students to fill two additional regular-sized elementary schools, with more kids on the way.
The province has approved plans for one new elementary school and rebuilding St. Charles Catholic School. The school boards need at least another two schools and a new high school.
This need to address overcrowding in our schools got me thinking about the old Bradford Public School sitting vacant on Queen Street, next door to the historic high school. Could it be used as a “holding school,” as it was temporarily when Chris Hadfield Public School was being built?
Not so much, replied Sarah Kekewich, manager of communications at the school board.
“The building condition of the old Bradford Public School makes it impractical to try to utilize on an interim basis,” she said.
She further stated there are “significant renewal issues and needs…the school has been declared surplus and major components have degraded.”
That means the school board is offering up some three acres on a nice rectangular parcel of land right in the heart of “old Bradford.”
Under provincial legislation, when a school board declares a property surplus, the town and other public institutions essentially have right of first refusal to buy the property for fair market value. Indeed, that is precisely the process by which the town acquired the old high school in the first place.
This means the town could be in a position to acquire my old elementary school, and thereby have a portfolio of four properties, all in various stages of disrepair, all within the same neighbourhood block.
What an exciting opportunity to add to the historic part of Bradford—and what a potential risk if the town passes on the opportunity to acquire the old public school and it instead goes to a developer who would want to simply cram cookie-cutter townhouses into the three acres.
Instead, the town should acquire the school property, get creative and work to add to the neighbourhood.
Imagine what could be done if the town owned the old public school property, and parcelled off most of the land for a beautiful new park, and a smaller portion for new homes to a developer, but on the condition through inclusionary zoning that some of the houses had to be below-market rental units, in order to add some affordable options to our local housing housing stock. There could also be specifications that the buildings had to match the aesthetic of the area.
At the same time, the town could partner with a developer who could restore the old high school and sell some really beautiful condos, much like the Wells Street condos in an old Aurora schoolhouse.
Such creative moves would immediately add some much needed housing options to the mix, in a town that needs more affordable rental units—and give the school board and the town millions of dollars from the sales.
This approach would responsibly manage the properties, rather than just turning it over to unbridled development, and the funds generated could be used to then renovate St. Mary’s Hall, including allowing for an arts space.
In other words, the town could be in a position to find a use for the old high school and public school, prevent rampant development in a historic neighbourhood, create a new mix of rental housing options, create a brand new park, and generate enough revenue to upgrade two existing town buildings.
I think that’s what you’d call a win-win scenario—times a factor of five.
Jonathan Scott is a public affairs consultant and writer.
