HWDSB makes fifth bid to redevelop former Sir John A. Macdonald site

The Hamilton Wentworth District School Board is making another attempt to build on the former Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School site – submitting a new proposal to the province for funding that would merge two nearby elementary schools into one.

“Sadly the city has absolutely no control in this situation. This is provincially owned land, the province is the bully in this situation,” said Cameron Kroetsch, Hamilton Ward 2 councillor.

For the fifth time, the Hamilton school board is turning to the province for permission and funding to transform the former site of Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School into something else.

“We can’t do anything without their approval. Frankly, everyone in Ward 2 is sick and tired of waiting for them to get off their ass and do something,” said Kroetsch.

Nearly eight acres of land on prime real estate in the heart of Hamilton, sitting unused for six years.

“We have been collaborating with the school board for about a decade now, through four collaborative proposals to the Ontario government asking the province to let us use the land,” said Kroetsch.

The latest pitch, amalgamating Hess Street Elementary and Strathcona Elementary into one central location.

“One of the key parts of this whole proposal is that in building a new site at the former Sir John A. MacDonald site, we are also hoping to alleviate board pressures around a lot of work that needs to go into the other two original schools,” said Maria Felix Miller, HWDSB chair.

Miller estimates the two aging schools need up to $4 million in renovation work.

“Right now the current amenities we have at the Hess Street school, which I can speak to in Ward 2, are not sufficient for students. We have mostly asphalt playing areas, that’s why we opened that space across the road at Sir John A. MacDonald, to allow kids to play in the green space there, because there’s so much of it. So what I’m hopeful is going to happen here is we’re going to have high quality green spaces for local children to play in, which will facilitate their education,” said Kroetsch.

The school board expects that the new school would eventually see the required enrolment levels necessary to justify transforming the site.

“We are hopeful that because we do have a new minister of education, we’re hopeful that there is some room and some bandwidth to work together on a new project,” said Miller.

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