Request for Broadview heritage designation complicates rebuild plan
Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 5, 2014, Last Updated: December 5, 2014 6:31 PM EST
Broadview Public School is seen in this undated photograph. The city is considering designating part of the school as a heritage building. The 'tower' is visible in the background.
A request to consider a portion of Broadview Public School for heritage designation could complicate the years-long effort by some parents to get the aging Westboro elementary school rebuilt.
The current plan is to build a modern, two-storey school on the south end of the lot, keeping the existing school open until the new school is built. At that point, in September 2016 if all goes according to plan, students and staff would move into the new building and the old one would be torn down.
But heritage planner Lesley Collins notified the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board this week that the city’s planning department has received a request to designate part of the school under the Ontario Heritage Act, a provincial law that gives cities such authority.
The city has already determined that the oldest portion of the school building, which dates back to 1927 and is commonly known as the tower, meets the criteria for designation. It’s also conducted an initial heritage survey and evaluation, which considers the design, historical and contextual value of a particular building. A property may be designated under the act if it meets one or more of these criteria.
Proposed site plan for rebuilding of Broadview Public School.
The city’s evaluation says Broadview, which is considered an example of the collegiate Gothic style popularized during the first part of the 20th Century, meets all three.
But that hasn’t convinced the parent group Better a Better Broadview, whose campaign to rebuild the school dates back to 2011.
“It may very well have architectural merit, however I think there are extenuating circumstances that should over-ride that,” said Stephanie Craze.
In addition to getting their children out of what many parents say is an unhealthy school, Craze said the board has been clear that it has no intention of using the old building, regardless of whether it’s designated heritage.
And if it remains standing, the building would also eat up green space and delay the rebuild project slightly while the board figures out a new storm water management plan.
The OCDSB received provincial approval in March to spend $15.4 million — a combination of new provincial money and cash from its own reserves — to build a school for 782 students (Broadview’s current student population already exceeds this number but is expected to level off over time).
The board initially looked at integrating the tower within the designs for a new school, but later discounted the idea, said chief financial officer Mike Carson (his portfolio also includes facilities).
Bringing the tower portion up to current standards, including asbestos remediation, accessibility requirements and the provision of services for natural gas and hydro, as well as renovating the interior could cost up to $5 million, which isn’t possible given the current budget, he says.
David Jeanes, a nearby resident advocating for the designation, says the intention is not to delay or complicate the rebuild effort, but rather to address the separate question of whether the old building has heritage value.
If so, he proposes a new partnership with the city that would see Broadview use the 10-classroom building as an annex during the day (instead of portables) and the public use it in the evenings and on weekends to address a shortage of community space in the Carlingwood, McKellar Park and Highland Park neighbourhoods.
Talk of a possible heritage designation is not new, he said, adding people held off until the board secured provincial funding for the rebuild and the proposed demolition became more imminent.
The city’s planning department will now prepare a report and recommendations for consideration of the built heritage subcommittee, perhaps as early as January. If that committee recommends the designation, the planning committee and city council would have the final say.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
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