Old Avon school may come down

Jim Hagarty
Editor
If a Montreal property management company gets its way, the old Avon Public School will be no more by next spring.

At an informal meeting last week, representatives from Maestria Property Management told neighbours of the school, the oldest section of which was erected in 1914, that if a rezoning request is approved, work on a new, three-storey retirement complex could begin in the spring of 2009 and be completed one year later.

Jean Stiles and her husband Gordon have lived on Charles Street across from the school for the past 40 years. Jean attended the meeting and said told the Gazette later she thought most of the 100 people she estimated were in attendance were in favour of the developer’s proposal. She was generally pleased with the presentation and believes the complex will be nicely built and will enhance the neighbourhood.

“It could improve (the value of) our properties here,” said Stiles, who added she’s tired of calling City Hall to come cut the long grass around the school. And with vandals writing all over the building and setting fires inside, neighbours wonder how long it will be before the building goes up in flames.

But a different view was expressed in an email to the Gazette by someone else who attended the meeting and who believes the property should not be rezoned.

“Application has been made to the city to rezone the former Avon school site, by a rental management company that specializes in expensive (not affordable) seniors apartments,” stated the email. “The plan involves a high density building that would change the quiet residential neighbourhood and cause many problems for the current homeowners in the area.”

The writer believes the 140 small  studio and one-bedroom units that are planned could well be built on another site such as the old fairgrounds.

“A very few homeowners were invited (to the meeting) by the commercial rental businesses involved,” stated the email. “The meeting was packed as word was spread throughout the community and although the plans have some pleasing aspects and the company appears to be wanting to please the community, there are many issues that are involved which they had not considered as became apparent during the meeting.

“The current site R2 zoning would allow for townhouses or single dwellings  which would maintain the  quiet residential neighbourhood and be a better use of the site. When asked if they would consider downsizing the plan to be two storeys and to make the units larger the answer was no, that it would not be profitable enough.”

Jean Stiles was impressed with most aspects of the proposal. There would be some underground parking and some above ground, mostly where the teachers used to park. As well, there would be a three-foot-high brick fence built around the 2.5 acre lot.

As for losing the old school, Roland Jonker of OCA Architects said there is no wall in the old building that could be used. But to keep some memory of the school alive, bricks from it would be used in the entrance to the complex and some photographs may be hung on walls inside the new building.

In response to a question, the company said it intends to keep all the large trees curently growing on the lot.

Some of the apartments in the project would be assisted living units and staff would be on site 24 hours a day. The company said it expects to employ 20 people at the complex.

Stiles still misses the children at the school who moved to the former King Lear Senior Public School  in 2005.

“We never had a problem with the school or the kids,” she said. “It was always nice to watch them out playing.”

But, she’s had enough of watching the old building decay and welcomes a replacement.

Meawhile, the objecter who emailed the Gazette wants to see the property enhanced too, but using a different model.

“We would like to encourage other developers to design truly residential affordable housing on this land,” stated the email.

City councillor Don Chapman attended the meeting but declined to tell the Gazette how he felt about the proposal. He said he went to the meeting just to hear people’s concerns.

PHOTO: The former home of Avon Public School may be levelled next spring to make way for a multi-storey seniors’ complex of apartments.  (Jim Hagarty)