A new public works yard on the old A.B. Greenwell School site? Possibly.
The Town of Lake Cowichan will get some of the land where the vacant school now sits once a transfer with the Cowichan Valley School District is completed.
Both the Cowichan Valley School District and the town are expressing formal interest in the transfer of the land, located at the east side of the Hundred Houses neighbourhood.
In 2008, the school district, after several years of complaints about a funny smell at the facility, temporarily closed A.B. Greenwell, because of mold discovered in the school. The school was formally closed by bylaw on May 15, 2013 because it was determined to be surplus to needs as the district underwent a big reorganization.
According to an official “notice of intent to transfer” document, “The property is a grant of Crown land given to the school district in trust for education purposes. In order to return the property to the Crown, any buildings constructed by the school district must be demolished and the property returned to its original state.
“The cost of the site restoration would be in the $500,000 range.
“In the fall of 2015, the Town of Lake Cowichan expressed interest in the property as a potential site for a new public works yard. The benefit to the town would be the avoidance of costs in developing a facility and in land acquisition.”
The transfer “would benefit both institutions and ensure the continuity in public ownership of said property and continued protection of the adjacent wetlands,” the document concludes.
When it was discussed at the Oct. 24 Lake Cowichan council meeting, town CAO Joe Fernandez said he and school district secretary treasurer Jason Sandquist will “simultaneously prepare a recommendation that sees the transfer happening as they give up their rights to that property.”
Coun. Tim McGonigle wanted some clarification about who demolishes the old school.
“The property being returned to its original state? That is not a stipulation of the transfer? It’s a stipulation of the province? If they had returned this property to the province without affording us the option of gathering it into our portfolio they would be forced to remove that building and put it back to its original state?” he asked.
Fernandez said, “That was the original plan. But the province had undertaken to do that for them; that’s my understanding of it.”
Lexi.Bainas
@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
