Historic S.W. school finds buyers

A vacant, century-old school in southwest Calgary could be converted into a space for arts and culture groups if a conditional deal goes through.

The Calgary Board of Education has tentatively agreed to sell the King Edward School at 1720 30th Ave. S.W. to the Calgary Foundation and Calgary Arts Development, officials said.

Since the school is surrounded by 1.2 hectares of land, the prospective buyers plan to invite private developers to participate in the project too, said Reid Henry, who speaks for Calgary Arts Development.

"Another scenario is once we understand the design of the building and how much it costs, we'll be looking at generating some value out of the site back to the project," Henry said.

"So whether that's subdividing a portion off to sell to private developers? That's a possibility."  

More consultation is needed before any deal is finalized, he added. 

A public information session on the plans will be held on March 9 from 7 to 9 p.m. MT at the Richmond Elementary School at 2701 22 Street S.W.

Several attempts to sell the sandstone school, which was built in 1912, have fallen through.

In 2007, the board reached a $14 million deal with a developer that would have seen the school become part of a condo development with an athletic club.