Maybe we missed something.
A group wants to take over W.R. Frose School for the nominal sum of $1 and Pembina Hills Public Schools is saying thanks, but no thanks as they’d rather spend public dollars to raze the building and wouldn’t dream of turning over the facility and 10.91-acre site in its current condition.
The roof is caving in, Pembina Hills states.
No problems, says the bidder for the site.
But there’s black mold, division brass contend.
Bring it on, we can fix it, says the author of the 54-page W.R. Frose Sustain Centre & Ancient Arts Academy proposal made to Pembina Hills.
“The building is in a bad state of disrepair and because it poses a significant risk to health and safety, we decided we weren’t going to hand it over to a third party,” said Pembina Hills’ board chair Jennifer Tuininga.
It’s a laudable statement to be sure, but what if the group buying it doesn’t care about its condition?
“We would have used hundreds of thousands of dollars of our own money to repair the school and turn it into something that Alberta can be proud of. It would literally be the first school of its kind in Canada,” said All Saints Medieval Fellowship Rev. Dan MacMullin, who drafted the proposal on behalf of the St. Kardec Ecclesiastical Foundation.
Say what you want about the proposal to turn the former school into an ancient-arts academy — you can view it online at www.westlocknews.com.
Is it kooky, or sheer genius?
Everyone will have their own opinion, although sadly the issue is now moot as Pembina Hills seems bent on levelling the school, which has been closed since 2014.
And that’s the part that’s troubling us.
We didn’t have a fly on the wall during the March 2 in-camera discussion that proceeded the rejection of the proposal, so we have no idea what was said by trustees and division staff beyond the final result.
Now if you have a hint of doubt you could speculate, as we’ve done, as to why the offer was rejected.
But we’ll refrain from wearing our conspiracy-theory tinfoil hats because if the building is such a hazard and they don’t want to saddle a prospective buyer with it, then trustees should be commended for their integrity and honesty.
We have but one final question: how much will the demolition cost taxpayers … you remember, the ones who’ll be on the hook for the final bill?
