Province commits to new high school theatre build

By Mike Williscraft
NewsNow

After being touted as a feature of the new Niagara West Secondary School going back to the ARC (Accommodations Review Committee) process, inclusion of a theatre component was finally made official last Thursday.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce visited the Reg. Rd. 81 site in Beamsville to make the announcement.

“After a decade of school closures in rural Ontario, our government knows that families in West Niagara deserve modern and accessible classrooms,” Lecce said.

“Thanks to the strong advocacy of local families and MPP Sam Oosterhoff, the construction of the new West Niagara Secondary School will improve learning for over 1,500 students with state-of-the-art classrooms, a modern theatre, and greenhouse with indoor and outdoor classrooms to support pathways and learning in the skilled trades.”

The theatre – which will include 750 seats – is projected to cost more than $6.8 million.

The theatre, along with an artificial turf playing field were two of the key features used to promote the value-added atmosphere a new school would offer by DSBN officials.

Funding for the theatre was never committed when the government agreed to support the facility to the tune of $51 million – $46 million for the build and $5 million for site remediation.

The remediation took on a financial life of its own at the former brick factory site, skyrocketing to $17.4 million with more work still to go to wrap it up.

Approval to cover the cost overrun through the board’s “disposition of properties” fund was applied for after the costs had been incurred.

At that time, there was consideration of putting a hold on the theatre, having the community raise its required $2.6 million share for the component and then build. Projected costs of that plan were prohibitive, nearly double, and the government relented and opted to fund it now.

“My understanding is that the DSBN has committed to working with the school community and surrounding area to raise the community portion, up to $2.6 million,” said Oosterhoff.

“Much of that I believe is anticipated to be through fundraising, but there is also the ability to use the proceeds of disposition of surplus properties fund to cover a shortfall if necessary.”

As the announcement for the theatre feature was being made, workers at the site were positioning huge hoses to a tanker in an attempt to drain off some of the large amounts of water which have pooled at the site which has underground streams running through it.

Kim Sweeney, District School Board of Niagara’s chief communications officer, has said the main contaminant on the site was building materials and that water and soil test results would be released very soon – that was in April.

“We have put a request into our engineering consultant to combine all of the reports that were submitted to the Ministry of the Environment into one file and then send to us,” wrote Sweeney in an email to NewsNow.

“Once we have received this (I’m thinking it will be next week) I will contact you.”

DSBN Chair Sue Barnett, said the new school plans for the future.

“With a strong combination of advanced equipment, technology and facilities, a broad range of course offerings as well as community partnerships, West Niagara Secondary School will give students the tools and opportunities they need to find success in their futures,” said Barnett.