By Sonya Velez
The future of two vacant buildings in the Centretown area owned by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board may soon be determined after years of indecision.
“These decisions should be made quickly and not take six months to decide,” says Joan Spice, the newly elected school trustee for Centretown.
Spice will officially be able to participate in board decisions as of December, when the new board takes effect.
“I really think they should be selling the empty property that they have now,” says mayor-elect Bob Chiarelli.
The board’s old administration building at 330 Gilmore St. has been empty for at least two years, and the old Ottawa Technical high school at 440 Albert St. closed in 1992.
“The old Tech school could be sold and should be sold quickly,” says Spice. “The old administration building should’ve been sold a long time ago . . . the board could use the money.”
According to figures from the regional planning department, the board could make $24 million by selling six vacant buildings it owns: the old administration building, the Ottawa Tech site, buildings in Stittsville and on Bronson Avenue, and the Brooklane and Queensway schools.
The old administration building is valued at over $3 million and the Ottawa Tech school at $10 million, according to the property assessment roll.
The board won’t let go of the school site until trustees look at a proposal to create specialty high schools in the downtown area next year.