The public school board has received the go-ahead to begin building a new high school in Barrie’s rapidly growing southeast end.
That means it could open in September 2020, several years behind schedule in a high-growth area due to a variety of delays, but board officials have yet to place any timeline on the project.
After many years in the making, the Simcoe County District School Board has received a building permit from the City of Barrie to build a much-needed secondary school near Mapleview Drive East and Prince William Way.
The school board’s building permit was issued June 19, which allows them to finally begin work at the site.
“Now they are able to move forward with their site alterations,” Andrea Bourrie, the city’s planning director, said at this week’s city council meeting. “We do expect that will happen any time now.
“As you know, they were very anxious to get started so they will be in a position to open their school in a couple of years time,” she added.
However, school board officials are reluctant to toss around too many dates, such as ground-breaking and an expected opening date, until they speak to the contractor.
“We’ve asked the contractor to provide us with an updated construction schedule,” Brian Jeffs, the school board’s superintendent of business and facility services, told BarrieToday. “Until we see that schedule, I won’t speculate on any of the milestones you’ve listed.
“I can say that we anticipate the contractor to begin massing on-site immediately,” Jeffs added.
On Saturday, a solitary dump truck was parked on the site.
Various dates have been mentioned over the years for a possible opening, including September 2016, September 2018 and, most recently, September 2019.
However, both the school board and the city see the granting of the building permit as a major step forward in what has been a difficult relationship.
“Having the building permit allows us to begin construction,” Jeffs said. “From that perspective, it’s a significant hurdle.”
At city council, the ward councillor was equally pleased.
“I think we’re almost at the finish line,” Ward 10 Coun. Mike McCann said at this week’s council meeting.
“It feels a bit like the day before Christmas or the day before the school breaks, so I think it’s fitting that it’s happening,” McCann added.
Referred to now in planning documents as South Barrie Secondary School, the as-yet-unnamed school will have space for 1,005 students.
Once completed, Jeffs said the school will include specialized tech rooms and a pair of athletic fields (one natural turf, the other artificial) as well as an eight-lane, all-weather track.
As for the 136,000-square-foot building itself, the board is looking at a three-storey walkout facility where the school also acts as a retaining wall on the property.
And the new school can’t come soon enough in one of the city's fastest-growing neighbourhoods.
It has been on the school board’s radar since 2010, when it was identified in the capital plan.
In the interim, downtown’s Barrie Central Collegiate was shuttered in 2016 and demolished (save for the old auditorium), putting additional stress on the city’s other four schools, particularly Innisdale, which has operated at as high as 149% capacity, or 1,672 students.
The new school, whenever it opens, is direly needed in that area of the city, which is experiencing rapid growth and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
“The school is badly needed and it is good news that it is finally going ahead,” Mayor Jeff Lehman told BarrieToday.
“It’s been needed for years due to the pressure on Innisdale,” the mayor added. “Certainly, once new homes are built in the area, starting next year, there will be more kids and more demand.”
The area is ripe for growth, as hundreds of homes will be built in the coming years, particularly around Yonge Street and Mapleview Drive.
Lehman said he hears from residents in the area who have been waiting for news on the school’s construction.
“They are eager and wondering why it’s not done already,” he said, adding others who live nearby are concerned about traffic and impacts on their neighbourhood.
“But I think, overall, what I hear most is, ‘when will it open?’,” Lehman said.
Local resident Mike Soligo says he has two girls, aged 12 and 17, currently going to school in the Catholic board system.
While the new high school’s opening will be too late for Soligo's older daughter, he said he plans to switch his younger daughter over to the public board so she can attend the new school due to its proximity.
Soligo was pleasantly surprised to finally hear the news that construction can begin.
“Oh, really? That’s awesome,” he said Saturday afternoon when told the public school board can now proceed with construction. “It’s great for the kids because it’s so close to us. It’s also good for property values, so it’s a win-win.
“It’s been a long time coming and the population of Barrie continues to skyrocket,” Soligo added.
Kim Rance, who owns Nu-Me Salon across the street from the school property, is hoping its eventual opening will bump up walk-in traffic to her business, which she purchased in March.
“I know people in the area have been frustrated by the delays,” Rance said Saturday. “They were told two years ago that it was going ahead. I know the other businesses (in the plaza) have been frustrated, too.”
Rance says she also has concerns surrounding the amount of construction-related traffic and dust that come with the building of the school.
“It has its pluses and minuses, I guess,” she said.
The project was initially identified in the school board’s 2010 capital plan.
In 2012, the school board submitted its business case for a new school to the Ministry of Education and $27.5 million in funding was announced in January 2013.
“It was evident from the business case then there’s been a need for a secondary school in the south part of Barrie since the original approval from the ministry,” Jeffs said.
In March 2015, the school board acquired the school site, which is located on the south side of Mapleview Drive.
In October 2015, council unanimously turned down the board’s site application for the new school. The board wanted to building located at the southern portion of the property for safety and cost reasons. Council wanted the building on the northern portion to conform with policies related to land that used to be part of Innisfil.
In June 2016, while under threats that the school board would appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, which would cause further delays, city council approved the school's site plan.
In December 2016, the board submitted building permits to city staff for final approval.
In November 2017, the board awarded the construction tender to Pre-Eng Construction Ltd.
Delays in the project have caused tension between the school board and some members of city council.
“I’m not sure why there was such a lengthy delay in submitting their site plan,” Lehman said. “While there was a dispute over the site plan with the city, that only delayed things about three months. And that dispute was over several years ago.
“Obviously, I’m sure everyone would like to have seen this move faster,” he added.
