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A rendering of the planned learning hub (Supplied)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re listening. We\u2019re going to make some small modifications to our plans to address some of those concerns,\u201d Rudnicki said, noting the redevelopment team is already discussing ways to adjust berms and fencing.<\/p>\n
The division purchased the plot, which has multiple structures on it, from a landscaping company for $3 million ahead of the 2025-26 school year.<\/p>\n
The secretary-treasurer said the division is budgeting for it via internal borrowing over the next five years while continuing to search for cost efficiencies.<\/p>\n
The overall project is estimated to cost up to $10 million.<\/p>\n
Division leaders have said it\u2019s an opportunity too good to pass up \u2014 even though the province has rejected their requests for approval to borrow external funds to develop it.<\/p>\n
If all goes according to their plans, the acreage will become a one-stop-shop for transportation, maintenance and operations units, as well as a field trip destination.<\/p>\n
Renderings show the multi-use site will be split in half, with the front area facing onto St. Mary\u2019s Road dedicated to ecological restoration and other land-based learning activities. That section is slated to have an outdoor classroom, greenhouses, trails, a stormwater pond and a tall grass prairie meadow.<\/p>\n
The back end will be a tree-lined area designated for parking and storage.<\/p>\n
The proposal was inspired by the Seven Oaks School Division\u2019s Ozhaawashkwaa Animikii-Bineshi Aki Onji Kinimaagae\u2019 Inun (Blue Thunderbird Land-based Teachings Learning Centre) in West St. Paul.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, once it\u2019s realized, it\u2019s a really great two-for-one deal of a learning-on-the-land facility and modernized school bus depot that reflects the growth of the division,\u201d said Ryan Palmquist, a trustee representing the southernmost corner of the school division.<\/p>\n
The redevelopment team is awaiting the City of Winnipeg\u2019s decision on a rezoning application for educational facility status. The site is currently in the Rural Residential 5 zoning district.<\/p>\n
The division has contracted Landmark Planning and Design, Prairie Architects and HTFC Planning and Design to work on the project.<\/p>\n
The first phase, anticipated to begin as early as next summer, involves cleaning up the site, paving it to store school buses and creating a border to insulate it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity to essentially right-size and build a transportation site that is responsive to the needs of our community,\u201d Rudnicki said.<\/p>\n
Forty division-owned buses are stored at 901 Maginot St. \u2014 a facility administrators are planning to sell to cover some of the cost of centralizing the fleet \u2014 and First Student\u2019s Archibald Street depot.<\/p>\n
There are 96 routes in total, the majority of which are outsourced to First Student, transporting about 3,400 students on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
Rudnicki said the 40 buses the school division owns cover routes in the south end so it makes sense to store them closer to the neighbourhoods they serve.<\/p>\n
Increased demand for transportation is inevitable in the southeast quadrant given there are two new subdivisons in the works, known as Precinct J (Dawson Trail) and K (a new community south of Royalwood and Bonavista), he added.<\/p>\n
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The sale officially went through on Sept. 1 \u2013 just over 25 years after Paul Veert bought the property for his landscaping business, Veert Landscaping Inc. in St. Germain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said they wanted to be a good neighbour\u2026 I took that into consideration when I sold the property,\u201d Veert said, noting that other interested buyers wanted to operate as 24-7 contractors or trucking firms.<\/p>\n
Following the open house on Wednesday, he said he was pleased about the proposal, especially the plans to beautify the entrance with a \u201cpark-like setting\u201d off St. Mary\u2019s Road.<\/p>\n
The drop-in event drew about 20 people.<\/p>\n
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Maggie Macintosh Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie<\/a>.<\/p>\n Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Education reporter
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