I suppose we should be looking at this as an obituary for West Highlands School, as the City of Amherst is apparently about to proceed with the
demolition of its heritage school. Designated a Municipal Heritage Property on October 25th of 1999, the heritage designation given by the city seems to have lost its lustre caused, at least in part, by economics.
The school was built on the former Lions Park, the intention being to return the land to the Lions for use as a park once again. Consideration was given to simply building a park around the building, but the city felt the cost of maintenance of the building simply too much to bear.
The school had been in continuous use as an elementary school until late March of 2015, at which time a new West Highlands Elementary was opened.
Amherst to demolish former
West Highlands School building
Darrell Cole, The Amherst News
Published on June 23, 2015
Property to be converted to new Lions Park
AMHERST – Amherst is going to move forward with demolishing the former West Highlands Elementary School building.
Council passed a motion at its June meeting on Monday to begin the process that will lead to the former elementary school’s demolition, likely later this year.
“This clears the way for going forward with the tender process to get the costs associated with the demolition of the school,” Mayor Robert Small said following the council meeting.
Built in 1911 and opened in 1912, the former school property was vacated several months ago when students and staff moved to a brand new school that was constructed on the former Lions Park property on Hickman Street and Maltby Court.
As part of the 2013 memorandum of understanding between the town and the Amherst Lions Club, the plan was to demolish the former school and turn the property over to the Lions Club for development as a park.
“There has been no change in circumstance that might warrant reconsideration of this demolition,” Coun. Frank Balcom told council earlier in the meeting. “While the loss of a historically significant building is unfortunate, the obvious trade-off is a new school facility and a new park space for the neighbourhood.”
Balcom said the property remains on the municipal heritage registry and there remains an opportunity through development of the new park to commemorate the cultural significance of the former school.
In March, former Amherst resident and West Highlands grad Kevin Ouellette sent a letter to the town and the Lions Club urging them not to demolish the building, but to consider saving the building for use as a cultural or community centre for the West Highlands part of town.
He suggested the park and building could co-exist on the same property but questioned whether the town was taking his efforts seriously.
Small said the town considered ideas that were raised by those suggesting other uses for the building, but said the cost is simply too high.
“We heard a lot of ideas from a lot of people, but none of those ideas had traction and none have come forward with the financial plan to take on a project like that,” Small said. “We are moving forward with what we had originally agreed on with the Lions Club.”
Small said he’d like to see some sort of commemoration of the school’s history on the park property after its development is complete.
From the Truro Daily News