Former Parkside school property assessed for cemetery after Aug. 21

The former Parkside Secondary School property is expected to be turned over to the city’s parks department on Aug. 21, for staff to begin assessing how much of the cleared site will be used for a cemetery.

Contractor Budget Environmental has completed demolition and removal of the building, finished grading and placing topsoil, removed fencing and installed sod.

“(The) contractor is to maintain sod for eight weeks after completion of installation (is) confirmed,” said the city’s director of environmental services Craig Murdoch. “We will not start planning the cemetery until the site has been handed over.”

Once planning of the cemetery is done, the city can determine how much of the property will not be needed for the cemetery use, how much can be used for residential development and how much can be added to the park.

The financial plan for the project includes estimated proceeds of $2.5 million from future development of unused portions of the Parkside property.