An 8.2-acre parcel of land in Coronation Park is up for sale as School District 43 closes the book on the school it shut down eight years ago.
The property, located in Coquitlam but adjacent to the Port Moody neighbourhood from which the school took its name, is now considered surplus, according to board chair Judy Shirra.
The district needs the money for building schools on Burke Mountain, at least two of which she said are awaiting provincial government approval,” she said.
“We said we can meet you halfway [on funding] and they [the provincial government] were really excited about that. That’s how the partnership started, it does help to have the city advocate for us and the developer advocating for the schools up there,” Shirra said.
The former Coronation Park elementary and fields are located in Coquitlam within walking distance of the new Inlet Centre Evergreen Line station and as many as 400 to 600 homes, plus park space, could be built there, according to the district’s request for offers. But it would be up to the developer to get the property rezoned and provide roads and servicing to support the development.
Shirra, a Port Coquitlam trustee, said the district is hoping to get top dollar for the property while the market is hot and said a half a dozen developers have already indicated their interest.
The deal is likely to include money up front and additional cash after the sale, depending on the outcome of the official community plan and rezoning processes, which are still a few years away.
“The people who are interested said they will take it as is and work with us,” Shirra said.
PLANNING
Meanwhile, on the Port Moody side of the community, a neighbourhood planning process is in the early stages, kickstarted this past spring, according to a city spokesperson, after the real estate brokerage firm London Pacific optioned some of the properties.
Originally, Coronation Park was left out of Port Moody’s official community plan for more thorough study but in June, a meeting was held to get community input.
James Stiver, Moody’s manager of development services, said following that initial meeting, a work plan is being developed with a budget to be presented to council this fall. And because the school property is such a large and integral part of development in the area, both the city of Coquitlam and SD43 will be part of ongoing discussions.
AWAITING APPROVAL
As for when a provincial announcement will come for Burke Mountain’s planned Smiling Creek elementary school, Shirra said she couldn’t say, but said she believes the funding request is at Treasury Board, along with a request for funding for a seismic project to replace PoCo’s Minnekhada middle school.
The district still wants to build a new middle school on Burke Mountain, which Shirra said is a priority for many residents with older children, but the Minnekhada replacement will likely be built first because it already has students in seats, and would still be able to accommodate Burke Mountain students.
Nothing will be built without a cash injection from the school district, however, hence the need to sell the Coronation Park property for as much as possible and as soon as possible, Shirra said.
“This is a ministry push,” she said. “We’ve got property and you want to build a school, this is a trade-off.”
Shirra said the funds are being used to get schools built here because otherwise the province’s capital spending is going to Surrey, one of the fastest-growing districts in the province.
