Contractor hoping to stave off Milk River school demolition

Demolition plans for a historic school in Milk River are raising concerns among some community members who say the school has potential to be repurposed for housing.

Milk River contractor Jarrad McCoy, who has more than 20 years of experience in the construction industry, detailed some of the benefits of repurposing Erle Rivers High School in an interview with

The Lethbridge Herald.

“The advantage here is you have a building and the parts that we’d propose be turned to housing, or halfway towards a completed unit. And you have an institutional grade building, as much of it is a concrete building that has a 300-year lifespan. In comparison to wood frame that is considered by lending institutions and insurance companies, those are considered 60-year buildings. This is a relatively young building, with brand new roof, up to current values. It’s been well maintained,” said McCoy.

McCoy said there is an ongoing struggle to find rental units within Milk River resulting in teachers, security staff, and nurses having to commute in order to work in Milk River. He voiced how the town has desires to repurpose it.

“What first came to mind is more recreational space. And they fought to save part of this building as recreational space but were denied. And they liked the proposal of turning this into residential use,” said McCoy.

He added Milk River town officials approached Alberta Infrastructure and were redirected to Horizon School Division along with Alberta Education who currently holds the authority for the school’s demolition.

“They got redirected back to Horizon School Division and Alberta Education, who makes the decision. Then when they got faced with it – the $250,000 – we kind of presumed with millions that they’d save by not needing to tear it down...they’d be glad to renegotiate that contract to save millions of taxpayer dollars.”

McCoy received a letter from the Town of Milk River thanking him for his efforts to help save the school and shared with him in the challenges put forward.

“There would be costs associated with the process, including legal fees, change orders, etc. The estimated dollar values were between $250,000 and $300,000. The

Horizon School Division Board was very direct, stating that they would not be willing to incur responsibility as well as any associated costs. With that, the Town would need to place $250,000 in an escrow account by the end of January,” the letter said signed by Larry Liebelt, mayor of Milk River. “Town council had very long discussions regarding the project and have decided to take no further action on this project in order for the Horizon School Board to move forward with their plans. There were many reasons behind our decision with the main reason being timing and the requirement to conduct a request for proposal process. Maybe there would have had different outcomes at the start of the process, proposals could have been obtained and the contract for Horizon would have been separate.”