Bishop Ryan Secondary School

[lucasmascotto]

City Finalizing Bid on land for Riverdale Recreation Centre
CBC News Hamilton
By: Samantha Craggs

The city is one step away from buying 1.2 hectares (three acres) of land from the Catholic school board to build a new recreation centre in Riverdale.

In a closed session Wednesday, Hamilton’s general issues committee voted to make a “bona fide” offer to the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board for a piece of the soon-to-be-vacated location of Bishop Ryan high school.

The two parties have agreed on a price for 50 Albright Rd., said Coun. Chad Collins of Ward 5. Now it’s just a matter of the Catholic board accepting the offer.

The move fills a long-time need for better recreation services in the area, Collins said.

For years, the city has shared rec space with the Catholic board, running a pool and handful of small meeting rooms there and sharing the gym with the high school.

Last year, the Catholic board broke ground on a new Bishop Ryan high school, which is located near the Summit Park subdivision in upper Stoney Creek. Students will move into it in January.

That means the old land, which is about 6.5 hectares (16 acres), would be up for grabs for developers, Collins said. If that happened, the school would be demolished and the neighbourhood would be without any recreation facility at all.

With Wednesday’s vote, a final deal is imminent. Then the city will consult with the public and eventually design and fund the new facility, Collins said.

But the land purchase means it's all but guaranteed.

“We wouldn’t buy the land if we weren’t going to utilize it,” he said.

Developers will likely buy the rest of the land and fill it with condos or single-family homes, Collins said.

The price remains confidential until the deal is finalized.