Province rejects fourth request to build on former Sir John A. Macdonald site
Public board associate director says there are currently no plans to sell the building
The future of a former downtown Hamilton high school remains in limbo after the province rejected yet another school board request for funding to build on the site.
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) says that on May 2 the Ministry of Education denied its request to build an elementary school on the site of the former Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, which closed in 2019 following an accommodation review.
The school would replace nearby Hess Street and Strathcona elementary schools, set to be consolidated.
“We did ask for funding recently from the ministry and found out last week that, again, we have not been successful,” associate education director Stacey Zucker said at an HWDSB-city liaison committee meeting Monday.
The latest request for funding follows three failed attempts to secure funds for a project that would include a JK to Grade 8 school as part of a community hub with five partners.
After its final request was rejected in December, the board instead set its sights on a standalone elementary school.
HWDSB spokesperson Shawn McKillop said trustees will determine next steps after the provincial election on June 2.
“Making another funding request for the same project is one possible direction for trustees to consider,” he said.
The three-hectare property has in the past drawn private-sector interest, including being listed as a potential site for a hotel and convention centre as part of a downtown redevelopment study by the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG).
Last July, council approved a minimum 30-year lease of the cityowned FirstOntario Centre — kitty-corner from the school site — to HUPEG, a consortium with plans to revitalize it.
Zucker said Monday the school “has not been declared surplus” property — a step that must be taken before any HWDSB building is listed for sale.
Even then, buildings must first be circulated among “preferred agents,” including school boards, the city, post-secondary institutions and organizations, per provincial regulation.
“If we were to move forward with anything else, there are a number of steps that we’d have to go through in order to either sever and sell, or sell that property,” she said. “We have not gone through any of those steps yet.”