Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Interested in buying a former school in Woodstock ?

Huron Street one-level previous K-8 school closed in 2011
Asking price is $1.5 million; highlight is modern gymnasium

By Mark Schadenberg
It's hard to believe that when I was growing up (elementary school in the 1970's) there were five separate board schools in Woodstock and now there are only two – St. Michael's in the city's northeast on Devonshire Avenue and St. Patrick's in the southwest on Parkinson Road.
The former St. Mary's on Oxford is open as Holy Family French Immersion, so I guess it counts as active, but it is refocused.
The previous St. Rita's on Dundas is still planned to be a future furniture store, while the old St. Joseph's on Huron Street evolved into the French-only Marguerite Bourgeoys K-8 school and is now FOR SALE for a likely re-development of its 2.7 acres.


While the main school for Ecole Marguerite Bourgeoys (EMB) was likely built in the 1950's, the school's gymnasium was constructed likely around 1990 and is probably only approximately 20 years old. The gym includes a stage, plus a ramp to that stage for modern accessibility.  
If a renovation was part of the plans by the next owner, many uses are possible because in theory a group could buy it and change the zoning (currently Neighbourhood Institutional) to a youth centre, church or even a daycare centre. The current layout includes eight very large classrooms – learning spaces large enough for 40 students. On my visit, it was noted that only two of the classrooms still have their original asbestos-like floor tiling. The removal of the floors in those two rooms would not be a significant undertaking. Each room has its own heating / cooling system as the manager of the building noted that the Windsor-based school system (Providence: www.cscprovidence.ca) had a policy for air conditioning in all its classrooms.


The building additionally features two modest front offices, but it's the gymnasium addition which makes the thoughts of a future use intriguing. The gym floor measures 72' x 44' – not quite a NBA size basketball court, but certainly large enough for regulation-size volleyball, and there is also a very tall open steel-truss ceiling.

Could the current building be converted into apartments? Certainly.
At the end of the day, if the building structures were removed the space left would suit up to 12 houses.


MLS: 74416
Asking: $1,500,000
Listed By: Peter Vandersar (Royal LePage Triland)
Frontage: 113 feet along Huron Street, but the L-shaped lot (See map. Property no longer includes portables.) opens up to the back schoolyard.

LINKS:



Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

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