The old Bradford High School is the "queen" of Queen Street, with her expanse of front lawn and gracious neo-classical façade.
But the building, constructed circa 1923 and a designated heritage site, has been sitting vacant since 2012. It was purchased from the Simcoe County District School Board by the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury after the board built a new Fred C. Cook Public School and determined the old high school building was no longer needed.
In 2017, the town asked the community for input on the future use of the building.
“The town has received a few proposals of varying sophistication for the property,” said Chief Administrative Officer Geoff McKnight. “A couple of them were formal enough to receive consideration from council, but they did not move forward.”
The newly re-elected council is looking at developing a strategy for its portfolio of properties, McKnight said. These include the Bradford and District Memorial Community Centre on Simcoe Road, the Helping Hand Food Bank building at 123 Moore St., St. Mary’s Hall on Frederick Street, the RBC building on Holland St. E., and the old high school.
“A key aspect of that strategy will be to ensure the town maximizes the community benefit that a surplus property could offer, while balancing that with obtaining the best possible return for our investment,” said McKnight.
“Regarding the former Bradford High School, I expect that council will continue to be open to receiving proposals that speak to those two objectives and abide by the heritage designation stipulations on the property,” he added.
One of the proposals received called for the structure to be transformed into a gallery, museum and performance space.
Local artist Ingrid Schienke and Jim Paine submitted their plan in 2017.
“The aim of our proposal is to convert the old high school into a unique centre for visual and performing arts while preserving the historical integrity of the building as a heritage site,” said Paine, noting that graduates of the high school have gone on to become some of the area’s leading business people, politicians and professionals.
Schienke and Paine envisioned two galleries, a heritage museum, performance hall, café and sculpture garden that would have “a broad and diverse community appeal,” offer workshop and studio space, and provide the flexibility to accommodate a range of functions, from cultural, to corporate events.
In the proposal, the centre would register as a non-profit charity, governed by a board of directors, while the town would continue to own the building and property, “funding a portion of the costs to run and renovate the centre. Additional sources of funding could include grants from the provincial government and arts and heritage groups, as well as through fundraising events, sponsorships and memberships from the community and the private sector.”
The need for maintenance and repairs has been identified by the municipality. A Building Condition Assessment identified the need for extensive repairs and remediation of the 95-year-old structure, including asbestos abatement.
“If council decides to retain the property and develop it further, any required capital and operating costs will be discussed through future budget deliberations,” said McKnight. “We’re always watching for grants and funding programs that can assist with town initiatives. At this time, we don’t see much that would be helpful – but we’ll continue to monitor.”
Deputy Mayor James Leduc acknowledged there had been some good proposals for the building, “but they were visions only, and would have put the responsibility to fund the project on the town.”
The municipality was also in the middle of a Cultural Master Plan Study at the time and decided to wait for the study report before coming to a decision.
“That being said, we have established a facilities committee to look at all of the town holdings/properties, to plan for the future, and that will include the old Bradford High School,” said Leduc. “We have had some interest in that building, but we have not been able to close any deals as of yet. We hope to have something happening with that some time soon.”
Asked what he would like to see as a future use, the deputy mayor said, “something the community could use, such as housing or studios for arts and culture.”
He declined to be more specific. “I would like to keep myself open to all future proposals that could come through. I don’t want to leave any opportunity out in the cold by identifying something that might close the door on a proposal,” said Leduc. “I hope that we will see a good proposal in this term of council."
Mayor Rob Keffer agreed.
"Council has discussed in closed session a few interesting proposals. Some hold greater promise than others. Some of the parties continue to refine their proposals, and we hope to hear back from them soon."
The mayor acknowledged the building "is in need of some care, and we need to move forward with a plan that the community will support.”
