Education Centre debate slips out from shroud of secrecy (Ont.)

Education Centre debate slips out from shroud of secrecy (Ont.)

Richard Leitner

Published on Dec 14, 2007

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is bringing the public into the debate over the future of its Education Centre while preparing a business case for moving out of the downtown landmark.

After two hours of closed-door deliberations, trustees emerged in public session on Monday to give senior administrators approval to develop a detailed rationale for staff's preferred option of building new headquarters by Jerome Park on the West Mountain.

A report will be presented to the board in February.

Trustees also announced they will hear public delegations on the matter at a special meeting on Jan. 10.

Public details were scant on the preferred option, with a one-page report only identifying it as a "single facility to accommodate administrative staff, training and facility maintenance."

But Mountain Trustee Lillian Orban made it clear the option is the one senior staff appear to have favoured all along -- relocating to Jerome Park at an estimated cost of $33 million.

She unsuccessfully urged trustees to also ask for business cases for other options that retain the Education Centre, which she called "an architectural icon."

"I don't want to be supportive of the administrative-preferred recommended action because, then, ladies and gentlemen, it's right here, $33 million, and that's not what we want," Ms. Orban said.

"I feel that it doesn't give me the latitude to open my brain and to look at a cultural centre that is a gem in this city," she said.

"Actually, we have seven options that we have been discussing in-camera and I would like to see the financial business plan, a more accurate one, on that."

Trustees were initially presented with four options in October, ranging in cost from $33 million to $65 million.

But they placed two additional options on the table last month, both of which would refurbish and either expand, or add another building to, the Education Centre.

No costing of these new options was presented publicly on Monday, but board chair Judith Bishop suggested they were more expensive than staff's favoured option.

She said her understanding is that staff will take into account input from the public, city and McMaster University -- the latter of which is interested in buying the Education Centre property for a family health centre.

"It's not to tie us just to only a particular one, single option at Jerome (Park)," Ms. Bishop said.

"We may end up with only one single option, but I believe what this is doing is attempting to move us in the direction where we can get away from a series of options, most of which, if you don't mind me saying so, are beyond our means."

Mountain Trustee Laura Peddle, who crafted the motion giving staff the OK for the business case, said the decision will still rest with trustees.

She told staff she expects to learn in detail why other options aren't viable.

"You're going to have to sell the merits of that preferred and recommended option by demonstrating to us why the other ones aren't the preferred option," Ms. Peddle said.

"In so doing, I think that we're going to see numbers beside all of them and I think we're going to see probably the content of some of the information that has been given to us in pieces," she said.

"If you don't take the time to explain, for our full understanding, why these other ones are not preferred, then I don't think you can expect success."

 
 

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