Developer was at Woodstock city council on May 19 to begin the process
In Cambridge, the former Dickson School to be renovated into office building
By
Mark Schadenberg
In
Woodstock, former neighbourhood schools have been converted into condominiums
(Broadway and Chapel), doctors offices (Princess), and a youth centre and related
offices (Victoria).
I
will write about a planned refurbishment of a unique vacant school in Cambridge
in a few paragraphs – a school built in a historic fashion which means it is
very noteworthy to save and repurpose.
An
oddity in Woodstock is that the vacant Tollgate School is technically outside
the city boundaries, but the nearby community has grown with the Sally Creek
subdivision literally across the street, but with Tollgate out of service, many
students living on these new streets are bused to Hickson.
The
former St Rita’s school continues to sit empty, but at one point there was a
buyer who had earmarked the school for a furniture store.
At
345 Huron Street in Woodstock, a school originally called St. Joseph’s, but
later converted into an all-French school as Ecole Ste. Marguerite Bourgeoys,
was demolished (See pictures in link to my old blog entry) over the past recent weeks to make room for a proposed townhouse
complex by its purchaser 2072627 Ontario Ltd, which is Woodstock builder John
Goodman. The buyer was already at city council last month (May 19) to successfully
gain approval for two building lots for detached homes which will have frontage
on Huron.
The
remaining Huron Street access will then be a long driveway to utilize the foot
print of where the school, its adjoining gymnasium and school yard were into a (proposed
/ projected) 26-unit townhouse complex, but zoning changes must happen first
along with consultations with the neighbours. Obviously, the developer would
have to return to city council at a later date with plans for the townhouses
(plan of subdivision / site plan approval).
If
you look at the overhead map of the area, there is plenty of space for this suggested
use, and it also coincides nicely with the province’s plans for intensification.
Ecole
Marguerite Bourgeoys – by the way -- has been located at the corner of Devonshire
and Bristol since 2011 in a brand new school.
LINKS:
www.cityofwoodstock.ca
www.cityofwoodstock.ca
My
2014 blog:
CAMBRIDGE
Communities
like Paris and Cambridge have some of this region’s most unique architecture.
Stone buildings and other similar structures create the flavor of a specific
area. Decades and generations from now it would be the desire to hope all these
buildings continue to stand, and that’s why the Dickson Public School in Cambridge
is high on the list to be restored, modernized and reused.
The
Dickson School, which was built using limestone from a local quarry. Was part
of quite a controversy in Cambridge a few years ago as a parents association
strived to keep it open.
History
buffs, who loved education and learning in their youth, would have enjoyed sitting
at a desk with an ink well at this school built in 1876 as the former Galt’s
third elementary school.
Be
sure to read the link from the Waterloo Region Record newspaper as it describes
the fact that even though the school closed its doors in 2014 much of the
original charm is still inside its classrooms, including chalkboards, pencil
sharpeners and clocks.
The
story notes that Cambridge itself had contemplated purchasing the school, which
had been listed for $950,000, but realized the costs of renovations into
affordable housing would be astronomical.
The
eventual buyer was Mark McInnis and his drawings and sketches and blue prints
and ideas all include converting the building into commercial office space. The
chunk of land which would have been a school yard could later be severed by
McInnis for residential uses, or re-sold to a builder to construct new homes.
One
thought I have, which will bestow a congratulations upon the Waterloo district
school board, is that the school was not left empty for a decade to rot. Too often,
old structures are vacant in disrepair and eventually the roof collapses, the
building floods due to old plumbing or another catastrophe forcing a demolition
permit to be issued.
Congratulations
therefore to the area school board and Mark McInnis.
The
final transformation will be quite interesting to see.
LINKS:
2013 story:
2012 story:
Mark Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist
(SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . .
Destination
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