Two years after demolishing 100 Mile Junior Secondary School, School District 27 is preparing to dispose of the property.
SD27 superintendent Chris van der Mark said the school board announced its decision at their last board meeting in October. Dispose, in this context, means to sell or transfer ownership of the land to another government ministry or interested party. Van der Mark said this process will take at least a year to complete.
“We have to apply to the Ministry of Education to get permission. There’s a bunch of things we have to have in place such as the deed, the title, when we acquired it and what the property is worth,” van der Mark said. “We know that’s a pretty desirable chunk (of property) in the south end so we want people to know that it’s a high priority for us as well.”
The first step of this process will be an appraisal of the school site’s value and what it could be best used for. Once that’s been determined the property will go up for sale, with other government ministries getting the chance to express interest in acquiring it first before it goes on the open market.
READ MORE: 100 Mile Junior Secondary School slated for demolition
All that being said, van der Mark stressed the school district is nowhere close to making a sale to any ministry or community group. He said several groups in 100 Mile House have expressed “considerable interest” in the property but added the district doesn’t favour any one of them at this time.
“It’s really hard to tell (how long this will take). Sometimes the process can be expedited but even with an expedited process I would be surprised if it took under a year,” van der Mark said.
One of the potential uses for the site suggested was the construction of a replacement building for 100 Mile Elementary School. The current school building is in need of replacement with sections dating back to the 1950s.
Van der Mark said replacing 100 Mile Elementary remains second on SD27’s capital wish list, right behind replacing Marie Sharpe Elementary School in Williams Lake. Marie Sharpe is of similar age to 100 Mile Elementary and has more structural issues, he added.
Securing funding for such large projects is challenging and he doesn’t expect to see 100 Mile Elementary replaced anytime soon. When it is, van der Mark said they’ll likely build the new school in the current school’s field.
“Footprints of schools are different. Up here in Williams Lake if we were to get approval for Marie Sharpe we’d build adjacent to the existing building and then knock it down. That would become our new play area,” van der Mark said.
Going forward van der Mark said the process of selling the old junior secondary school site will remain transparent and open. He encourages those interested in following it to keep an eye on the school board’s monthly meetings and the minutes they post online.
