Lorne school plan earns tentative support from Saint John council
North end group hopes to make closed school part of larger community centre
Plans to convert the former Lorne middle school in Saint John into a community centre received widespread praise from city councillors on Monday.
Council heard from ONE Change, a charity focused on improving the quality of life in the old north end, which presented the results of a feasibility study on taking over the closed school and using it to provide a range of services.
"You know, what you guys have done over there, it's absolutely remarkable," said Coun. John MacKenzie. "I absolutely think the city has to sit down and seriously look at this opportunity and come back to council with some recommendations."
Council agreed staff should explore ONE Change's proposal that the city take over the closed school from the province and allow the community group to run it.
- Push to give old Lorne middle school a new purpose enters final stretch
- Old Lorne Middle School eyed for health, employment training centre
- ONE Change to study new use for Lorne Middle School building
The presentation was led by Morgan Lannigan, from the ONE Change board, who said the city is tied to the fate of the school building.
"Whether you want it to be or not, and that's just the plain truth here," he said.
The city has spent $3 million on the Nick Nicolle Community Centre, which is attached to the Lorne school building and already provides a variety of programs for adults and young people in the area.
Lannigan said the city's investment would be lost if the school building, now owned by the provincial government, is torn down or sold rather than made part of a larger base of community and regional services.
Last year, there were more than 44,000 visits to the Nick Nicolle centre, which provides employment training, health care and other services.
Expanding the centre to include the Lorne school building would allow the centre to reach beyond the old north end as a regional community centre and extend training and employment programs, ONE Change said.
The group said the purpose of its presentation Monday night was not to ask the city for money, although ultimately it wants the the city to take over ownership of the building and lease it back to the charity.
Under that arrangement, the group said, the city would shed some of its other north end real estate and move operations to the more central school building.
Looking for city ownership
The group said the city would be responsible for long-term capital improvements to the building, as well as property taxes and general maintenance.
But the city could also end up with $110,000 in savings by consolidating its north end operations in the school building and by leasing space to ONE Change, Lannigan said.
"It's a win for the City of Saint John, and it's a win for the north end," said Lannigan.
"So, if we can harness these opportunities, we can actually multiply the effect and create opportunities for a number of partners, not just one-sided."
Timeline problems
Deputy Mayor Shirley McAlary had some questions about the timeline, given the fact the ownership and bills for Lorne School currently fall to the province.
"The city, in my opinion, is going through some difficulties at the moment, financially and otherwise, and there's quite a few issues in there," said McAlary.
"There's no guarantee we could sell some of our properties in a hurry."
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