Published Date: 2008/7/9 18:00:00
Article ID : 4603
Version 1.00.01
By Karen Boden
PORT ALBERNI - The land favoured to build a new Port Alberni high school upon is off Roger Street and includes three current ball fields plus a portion of Echo Woods.
"It's called Seredick Place," said Ron Doetzel, the city’s parks and recreation manager Wednesday. "They were affectionately known as Mosquito, Peewee and Bantam."
There will be opportunity for community input, including a public hearing, before the site selection becomes official.
A press conference was held at City Hall Wednesday afternoon to announce the plans.
"There's never a proposal that's going to be perfect but I think that this is as close as we can get to it," said Mayor Ken McRae.
Right now there's an agreement in principle between School District 70 and the City of Port Alberni for a land and money exchange. The school district will hand over Sweeney and Echo Major Fields to the city as well as $622,500. In addition, the district-owned playing fields at the former Mt Klitsa junior secondary school on Compton Road will be consolidated with city-owned Klitsa Park land (Lon Miles Field).
The land at Klitsa school will be re-developed as a junior baseball facility.
Early this year a public outcry followed a school district announcement that the school was tentatively planned to be built on district-owned land encompassing Sweeney Field. As a result, the district entered into months of negotiations with the city to have a look at alternate sites.
School and city officials anticipate some negative public feedback concerning the new selection as well.
"People are going to be worried about the memorial park," said city Coun. Cindy Solda. "But we still own that. And there will be a buffer too."
The school plans will see some of the treed area known as Echo Woods developed. Solda said the district is adhering to Leeds Gold standard or equivalent so preservation of trees will be an important part of the process.
"They're not getting all of it. There will be a buffer along 10th Avenue," she said.
During the four months of discussions between school district and city representatives, 14 different sites were looked at.
The 13-acre parcel identified now as the favoured spot also allows room for Echo Centre to expand in the future, Solda noted.
The city intends to apply the $622,500 received from the district toward the construction of the junior baseball facilities near the Klitsa property. That will include four ball diamonds, a washroom/change room facility and off-street parking.
The school district wants to retain a "small portion" of land, bordering Tebo Avenue and Compton Street to subdivide and sell for single-family residential uses and use the money from that sale to toward the construction of the high school.
The whole plan is subject to provincial and municipal approval.
It involves rezoning and will require amendments to the city's Official Community Plan.
"That means there will be a full public process," said Scott Smith, city planner.
The application has to be formally made, public input will be invited over a two-week period, staff will prepare a report and the proposal will go before the city's Advisory Planning Commission.
After that the bylaw changes will be introduced and a public hearing date set.
Smith said that will probably take place in late September or early October.
The school district still hopes to have the new school open to students in September, 2010.
It replaces the current ADSS which sites on 18 acres of land, not 14 as previously reported by Westcoaster.ca.
"Eighteen acres of future tax dollars," McRae quipped.
The school district hopes that community user groups will purchase or lease ADSS Auditorium which is adjacent to the current outdated high school.
The remainder of the Burde Street property will be offered for sale.
Karen.boden@westcoaster.ca
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