CORNWALL – A plan approved over seven years ago to unite the two Upper Canada District School Board high schools in Cornwall is finally moving forward. In June 2017, the school board approved the merger of Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School and St. Lawrence Secondary School.
Since then, the province approved the merger plan and the school board has sought a property to purchase for the new school.
On December 16, a notice of meeting was published by the City of Cornwall for an Official Plan Amendment to two parcels of land on the north east corner of Marleau Avenue and Nick Kaneb Drive in that city’s east end.
The OPA meeting is scheduled for January 20, 2025, which, if approved, will re-designate the two properties identified as “UCDSB Marleau Avenue” as Major Institutional, and rezone the properties as General Institutional. A variance allowing for the new school to be up to 18 metres high (60 feet) will also be sought. The land is currently a vacant commercial property located across the road from Bridgewood Public School.
UCDSB Communications Manager April Scott Clarke confirmed the property is the planned location for the new school.
“We are in the process of clearing conditions associated with the sale and therefore can’t provide additional details until the sale is finalized,” she said. “At the present time, we are clearing a number of conditions and awaiting a decision from the Ministry of Education on funding the purchase.”
CCVS is recognized as one of the oldest schools in Canada, founded in 1806 by John Strachan, later the Anglican Bishop of Toronto. The school is currently on Sydney Street in Cornwall, while SLSS is located on Second Street East, near the location of the new school.
Scott Clarke said the site was one of a few that was under consideration for the new school based on size of the property, access to transportation, and other factors.
“This has been on our shortlist for a number of years as we have worked to eliminate other sites from contention,” Scott Clarke said. As the deal has not been finalized by the UCDSB, the purchase price could not be released.
The merger of the two schools was approved during the 2016-17 Building for the Future pupil accommodation review process, which also proposed the closure of many schools within the board, including Seaway District High School and Morrisburg Public School. Those schools were eventually removed from the closure list. However, nine schools were slated for closure, and four more were selected to close once expansions or new schools were built. The two Cornwall schools are part of that list.
The new school location is the latest in a series of properties looked at by the board. While other school projects, including the opening of the new Swift Waters Elementary School in Brockville, have moved forward, finding a location for the new Cornwall high school has taken more time.
The Ministry of Education initially valued the project at $39.1 million in 2018, the project is expected to cost much more. UCDSB trustee board documents show that up to six different locations have been considered, and this is the fourth property purchase attempted. At a late October board meeting, Executive Superintendent Jeremy Hobbs told trustees that the purchase of the new property was expected to close in early 2025. Once the purchase is finalized, Scott Clarke said the school board was moving as quickly as possible to get shovels in the ground.
“We have worked extensively with the Ministry of Education to ensure they are supportive of this purchase,” she said. “We submitted our request for funding on October 29 and have been told to expect a response by the end of January. In the meantime, we are working through the process of hiring an architect and other behind the scenes items so that we can move forward without delay, if and when approved.”
The attendance boundaries for the new school have yet to be determined.
“Given that this will be the only (English-Public) high school in the Cornwall area, it would be reasonable to conclude that the boundary would mostly be a combination of the current boundaries for SLSS and CCVS.”
Further details about the new school will be released once UCDSB officials know if the land purchase will be funded.
Editor’s Note – This story was updated following publication to reflect the responses received from the UCDSB.
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