City of London purchases former Fairmont Public School
A donated sign proudly displaying the moniker ‘The Home of the Falcons’ stands on the front grass mere feet from hectic traffic on Hamilton Road.
Fairmont Public School closed in 2022, but the site is in flight to become something new entirely after London City Council approved the purchase from Thames Valley District School Board on Tuesday.
“Submitted by the Thames Valley District School Board, the vendor to sell the subject property to the city for the sum of $5,960,000 be accepted subject to the terms and conditions set out in the agreement,” Ward 8 Coun. Steve Lehman said as he read the report from the closed session into public record.
The property is a 5.7 hectare parcel that Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister said is badly needed.
“It's the largest property that's been acquired in this ward in many years because there's not really a lot of land. It's developable for housing on this scale in the area,” he said.
The old school has been a target for graffiti and vandalism, but the large park is a favourite of dog walkers and residents in the area who are thrilled at the news.
Caitlyn Hendrickx, a former student at the school, still walks through the site on her way to work.
“Ideally, I wouldn't mind like residential housing or like low income housing for retired like seniors or retirement people, because I would like ideally for the whole back field to be a park or something like that because it's really nice,” she said.
Purchasing land to build residential property has not been a normal practice in modern times, but as McAlister said, the housing crisis calls for new thinking and action.
“Any opportunity that comes our way right now, we're [in] desperate need to acquire land to get housing built. So this is one part of the process, you know, where we can actually add some value to it to get some housing built,” he said.
No plans or scale of any project has been made public at this time, but purchasing the land is the first step.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.