SD 52 proposes to purchase land

The City of Prince Rupert has made public the intent to sell a plot of land for $92,000 to School District 52 for the future purpose of building a new middle school.

The sale and possible purchase of the land located between the current Prince Rupert Middle School and the Prince Rupert Golf Course will allow the construction of a new school while students are still educated in the current building, in which structural issues are being experienced, James Horne chair of SD 52 Board of Trustees told The Northern View.

The buildings presently being used were previously a high school, and have been expanded several times. The school and golf course were built on the location of the city’s previous garbage dump, Horne said.

“That block that the current middle school is on is actually a floating block. It causes lots of problems. It’s moving around and is cracked.”

The property just to the right of the school when looking from 9th Ave is nearly all stone, it’s not garbage, he said.

“We would need to do very little remedial work and we can build on it. We’ve already done all the testing on that route. That is the ideal site and the most inexpensive we believe. We’d get the best location.”

There are three sites under consideration said Horne, as that is the requirement of the Ministry of Education. The other two options include the existing Kanata School property which is not centrally located with the third and least favourable option building on the existing site. This would mean finding a location for the students while the buildings were demolished and rebuilt, he said.

At this time there is no time frame for the construction to start, Horne said.

“It is indeed a long-term project, and once the decision is made it will be four years from that point.”

Horne said the Ministry of Education has the final say in the decision on which property will be used.