Private school part of bid for rezoning
Prospective buyer requires rezoning before closing deal with public board
The 103-year-old J.E. Benson Public School, which has been closed for three years, may get new life as a private school.
An application was made last month to the city requesting a change to the zoning bylaw for such use.
Listed as the applicant on the documents is Ya Chen Liu of Markham. Attempts to contact Liu and Jing (Tracy) Sun, who is listed as a contact on the application, were unsuccessful.
Currently, the site on Wyandotte Street West is designated on the city’s official plan for mixed and residential purposes. The zoning allows for institutional use.
“Currently the property is zoned for school use, such as a public school by definition and a private school is not captured by that definition,” said Justina Nwaesei, planner to development review for the City of Windsor.
“They need the rezoning to come onto the property because they’re not a public school board.”
Nwaesei said the application shows there are no changes planned to the building or twoacre school site.
The nearly 90,000-square-foot, three-storey building is listed on the Windsor Municipal Heritage Registry for its historical and architectural significance.
The building was designed by prominent local architects J.C. Pennington and Albert H. McPhail and opened in 1915 with 12 classrooms and 95 students. In 1923, a 62,000-square foot addition was added with the student population swelling to more than 900 pupils.
Originally known as the Wyandotte Street School, it got the J.E. Benson name in 1936 to honour the school inspector who died of a heart attack in 1936. Benson was a pioneer in Canadian education, introducing the rotary system of classes to Canada.
The application for rezoning has now been put out for comment among the city’s various department. Feedback is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
If there are no issues, Nwaesei said a planning report will go to the heritage planning standing committee in April.
Public school board spokesman Scott Scantlebury said the board has deemed the property surplus and it was first offered to a list of preferred groups as defined by the province. On that list are organizations such as municipalities, other school boards, colleges and universities.
The public board put the property on the open market for sale in July.
“It has been available to any interested party or organization and a sale, at fair market value, will benefit the GECDSB as the proceeds will be applied against the board’s capital debt,” Scantlebury said.
Scantlebury would not reveal the sale price until the deal is finalized. But the sale is contingent on the buyer obtaining rezoning.
Benson, which is located across from Adie Knox Herman Arena on Wyandotte Street West, closed at the end of June 2014 and its remaining student body was moved to West Gate Public School.