A suggestion that could see St. Albert’s newest elementary school built in Kingswood instead of Erin Ridge North appears to be a non-starter.
At Monday’s city council meeting Coun. Cam MacKay asked administration to explore an idea first put forward by council candidate Sheena Hughes – move the elementary school announced by the province last month from Erin Ridge North to Kingswood, then move the francophone high school pegged for construction at Eldorado Drive to Erin Ridge North.
Such a move, said Hughes, would address concerns of Erin Ridge residents about the size of the high school compared to the area of the school site, and worries about heavy vehicle traffic and parking at the Eldorado site.
“I just tried to think of some kind of solution,” said Hughes. “It just occurred to me this is an alternative.”
The city doesn’t have title to the site Hughes is suggesting it explore. The land in Kingswood has long been at the centre of an ongoing dispute between developer Canterra and the city. Canterra is supposed to hand the land over to the city but will only do so if the city guarantees a high school won’t be built on the site. President Murray Brown has been previously quoted as saying high school students don’t make good neighbours. The city has said it will not issue any development permits to Canterra until it hands over the land.
This kind of swap could finally bring some peace to the ongoing dispute, Hughes said.
“The feuding can stop if we can move the francophone school,” Hughes said.
Canterra did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.
But even if the land was available, it doesn’t appear the public school board is interested. Board chair Joan Trettler said it wants to have the school located in Erin Ridge North because of the ongoing expansion in that part of the city.
“Our preference is Erin Ridge North,” Trettler said. “If for some reason that didn’t work out, we have a site that’s in Erin Ridge, the site that’s been there for a long time.”
The board has been asking for a new school in that area of town for years. Both the francophone high school and the proposed elementary school are expected to open in 2016.
But even if the school board was willing to move the elementary school to Kingswood, there might not be enough time to negotiate and finalize a land transfer, then redistrict and subdivide the parcel of land in Kingswood. City manager Patrick Draper said he expects the province to issue its request for proposals for all the new schools announced last month in October.
“If any developer was getting ready to subdivide for a school or a park site, subdivision and redistricting would take approximately six to nine months,” Draper said. He added he believes the school site needs to be firmly set prior to the RFP going out.
Hughes said if there is an appetite for the city to make the swap, it could make it happen in a very short period of time.
“It’s really up to whether or not the city is motivated to make it happen,” said Hughes. “They just have to declare it and make it happen. It’s really dependent on what the motivation is and whether they want to see it happen or not.”
