The North Vancouver school district is selling its shuttered Monteray school site to a real estate developer for $6.38 million.
Money from the sale will go towards the extra $15 million the school district must come up with to fund the $46 million rebuild of Argyle secondary school.
The sale marks the second time the board of education has voted to sell a closed school site in the past six months.
In July, the school board also approved the sale of the former Ridgeway Annex land to property developer Anthem for roughly $5.1 million.
The North Vancouver school district closed Monteray elementary, in the upper Delbrook neighbourhood, almost a decade ago. For several years after that, the school was leased to the Francophone Education Authority of B.C. The school has sat vacant since March of 2011.
According to the school district, there’s been little interest in leasing the property from other groups. A request for proposals issued by the school district in July 2012 didn’t turn up any qualified proponents, according to a district report.
Franci Stratton, chairwoman of the board of education, said selling the property and putting that money into the Argyle rebuild made the most sense for the school district.
Stratton said the school district has spent about $65,000 over the past two years on minimal heating, alarm systems and grounds maintenance for the school site.
Demographic shifts indicate the school won’t be needed for educational purposes in future, said Stratton. She added the school is also old, small and in an out-of-the-way location, making it less attractive to lease.
“The asset is only as good as its useful life,” she said.
Neighbours also told the school district they wanted something done with the site, she added.
School trustee Barry Forward voted against the sale.
Forward said he believes public assets should stay public.
“I’m a strong believer the community owns these assets,” he said.
Forward said he’s not against real estate development, but “when that’s the only solution to a problem, I get concerned.”
He said he would have preferred to work more with the District of North Vancouver and explore options for the site before selling it.
Forward blamed the province for forcing school districts to make difficult choices because of financial pressures.
“We’re in tough times,” he said. “Local school districts are being ground down.”
District staff are currently meeting with three short listed groups — Darwin Construction, Polygon Homes and Lions Gate Christian Academy — to discuss proposals for the closed Plymouth elementary school site, with a public meeting expected at the end of January.
The district has also hired consultants Dialog Design to lead planning sessions on the eventual fate of both the Lucas Centre and former Cloverley elementary school sites.
