Out with the old…
Former Tatamagouche high school set for demolition
Demolition of the former North Colchester High School is imminent following a decision by Colchester County council not to accept the building as a municipal responsibility.
“ e county said, ‘no we don’t want it’ and there were a number of reasons for that,” said Mayor Christine Blair.
The former school ceased operations this year following the opening of the new Tatamagouche Regional Academy.
Blair said given the age of the building ( the original section dates to 1949) and the fact it was constructed in three sections, along with the fact that it contains asbestos and that no one came forward with a proposed use for it, all led to council’s decision to let the building revert back to the province.
“No one indicated to us that they did want it and I think we were a little bit gun-shy, if you will, in the sense that we took over the Salmon River (elementary) school some years ago,” she said.
e municipality retained that school for several years, including when it was leased to the RCMP as a training facility between 2012 and 2014. But when the RCMP vacated the building the county was left to pay for heating and maintenance costs until a decision was made in 2015 to demolish it.
Although the demolition of the Salmon River school was initially estimated at $65,000, the cost to the county ultimately ended up at $233,700 and Blair said council did not want to put itself in a similar position.
“There’s a lot of asbestos in it according to what we have heard,” she said, of the former Tatamagouche school. “So we’re a little bit cautious about taking over another old school unless there is someone that actually is interested in it.”
Ownership of the school now rests with the Department of Transportation and Infrastruc- ture Renewal. A department spokesperson said a demolition contract is expected to be awarded in the near future.