Hamilton’s public college board at the moment has at the very least 10 empty college buildings, costing taxpayers a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} a 12 months in upkeep.
An out-of-use college prices roughly $35,000 to $135,000 a 12 months to keep up, relying on measurement, Hamilton-Wentworth District Faculty Board (HWDSB) spokesperson Shawn McKillop mentioned in an e mail.
A bigger constructing like downtown’s Sir John A. Macdonald — whose future is in limbo after the province rejected a request for funding to construct an elementary college as an alternative — would have a upkeep price ticket of between $85,000 and $135,000.
Two buildings — Sir Isaac Brock and Sir John A. Macdonald — are “vacant” and “require trustee course to workers on subsequent steps,” spokesperson Rob Faulkner mentioned in an e mail.
Not less than eight former HWDSB faculties — Beverly Central, Dr. John Seaton, Elizabeth Bagshaw, Glen Echo, Inexperienced Acres, Mountain View, Queen’s Rangers, Spencer Valley — are “in strategy of disposition,” which means they’re at the moment on the market.
As a way to promote — or sever and promote — a property, boards should observe a number of steps.
As soon as a property has been declared surplus, it should first be circulated amongst “most popular brokers,” together with college boards, town, post-secondary establishments and organizations, per provincial regulation. If there’s no curiosity, it may be bought on the open market.
Sometimes, buildings are bought one to 2 years after being declared surplus, McKillop mentioned.
However college boards might preserve buildings for a time period after they’ve been vacated by college students and workers earlier than deciding to promote. McKillop mentioned that is to make sure the board gained’t want the constructing down the street.
“Properties could also be a part of a future ask for a brand new construct or consolidation of current (faculties) on that website,” he mentioned.
In 2004, the HWDSB bought the previous Scott Park college — now occupied by Bernie Custis, opened in 2019, a car parking zone and a recreation centre — for $650,000 solely to pay to expropriate the property from a developer a couple of decade later.
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District Faculty Board (HWCDSB), nonetheless, has no surplus properties, however leases a number of to exterior organizations for an annual income of about $850,000.
Others, like the Nicholas Mancini Heart, which was Christ the King Elementary Faculty, are used as board administrative areas.
The general public board says it has no revenue from leased properties.
Catholic board chair Pat Daly mentioned when a faculty is closed, the board might retain the constructing to find out “what course (improvement) strikes sooner or later in our metropolis.”
“We don’t personal plenty of properties within the metropolis, so we’re very, very cautious to make it possible for if we do promote a constructing, that it’s not possible we’ll have a necessity sooner or later,” he mentioned.
The final Catholic college to shut was St. Brigid in 2018. The constructing is at the moment getting used as a holding college for college kids from St. Patrick’s, which is being rebuilt.
The general public board can also be utilizing two former faculties — Barton and Frank Panabaker North — to accommodate college students briefly whereas Sherwood is renovated and Rousseau is constructed.
Daly attributes the absence of vacant buildings to “smart counsel” from senior workers and “future-oriented, tough selections” to shut and consolidate faculties within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.
“We made some … some very, superb selections by way of each lodging and services,” mentioned the longtime chair.
