Tenants move into former school

The former Morrison school has its first two tenants — one offering art classes and another working on a project for seniors.

Jeff Knarr, president of the Glace Bay Y’s Men’s and Women’s Club which recently purchased the former school, said it is encouraging to have tenants in the building already and he hopes to soon have more.

He said the woman who will be offering art classes and selling artwork moved in on Tuesday and the seniors project worker is expected to move in today.

As well he said they have had an inquiry from a woman interested in renting rooms for a daycare.

“We need a few more stable bookings before we can rest easy but it’s coming.”

Knarr said six heat pumps, at a cost of $25,000, are being installed this week in the former gymnasium.

“They started Monday and should be in by the end of this week or early next week,” he said. “We are financing them through Nova Scotia Power.”

Knarr said as a result they will begin advertising for bookings for the gymnasium next week.

The club purchased the former Morrison junior high school from the International Centre for English Academic Preparation for $1.

The club plans to offer space for community programs and activities as well as rentals for offices and storage.

The club said it was important to preserve the building, which originally housed Glace Bay High School in 1914.

The club continues to sell the school furniture and still has plenty of chairs and desks for sale. A recent flea market raised about $1,200.

The money raised from selling the contents of the building is being used to maintain the property and pay the oil bill, which is expected to be $50,000$60,000 a year.

Mike Kelloway, president of the Glace Bay revitalization group bayitforward, said it’s important for communities to have hubs in different genres and in this case it’s a community hub.

“The Y’s Men’s Club is doing that and we are very fortunate that they are,” he said.

“It’s all about coming up with community solutions for community opportunities and community challenges and that’s what they are doing. We are certainly interested in looking at any collaborations down the road.”

For more information about the building, telephone 902849-6665 or 902-276-3557.