Sale of 1914 school to fund new land
Money from the recent sale of the Metchosin Elementary School will help secure new land for facilities in the Sooke school district.
The District of Metchosin purchased the 1914 school for $1.5 million. The building hasn’t functioned as a school for more than 12 years and has lately been leased to such tenants as the Metchosin Arts Council.
A lack of classroom space is an issue around the district, but Metchosin Elementary isn’t in the right location, said district superintendent Jim Cambridge.
The municipality’s other elementary school, Hans Helgesen, is not full, and the district doesn’t expect much growth in enrolment, he said.
“Really, when you look at the District of Metchosin, their official community plan doesn’t support a lot of growth, and we have seen that in our long-term projections,” he said. “We’re not expecting many students out of the Metchosin area.”
Cambridge said rental revenue from Metchosin Elementary did not cover the cost of utilities and maintenance.
“So it made sense for the school board to sell that property … and use whatever funds we could to help support purchase of new properties.”
The district announced in 2016 that it was looking to purchase land for up to four new schools in order to keep up with an anticipated enrolment increase of about 1,800 students over five years. There are some deals in the works and ongoing consultation with the provincial government for approval and funding.
“I’m optimistic we’re going to hear something really quick,” Cambridge said.
“We’re mostly looking for a middle school site right now, an elementary school right now and then two more in the following two or three years — all in the Langford-Colwood area.”
The hope is to secure land for schools now “before it’s gone into residential,” he said.
Metchosin Mayor John Ranns said that buying Metchosin Elementary could have been “a good news story” for the municipality, but isn’t yet.
Hoped-for grants did not materialize, and the municipality ended up having to borrow money from its police reserve to make the purchase. The funds have to be paid back in five years.