Comment 84040

By Mahesh_P_Butani (registered) - website | Posted December 17, 2012 at 13:52:17

Adaptive reuse of Sanford School has been attempted earlier.

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Here is my email exchange with Clr. Morelli regarding Sanford School from July 26/27, 2012.

Unfortunately, the anticipated walk-thru of the school building never materialized, as HWDSB appeared to be committed to its plans for its demolition -- which was solely guided by the feedback it received from the small group working around the Wever Elementary School & Pinky Lewis Rec Centre.

For a more detailed understanding as to how this decision to demolish got shaped - read this:

There has been much misinformation about the roles that have been played by various organizations/groups leading up to the decision to demolish this building. Unfortunately, there has been a reluctance among local media sources to publicly discuss facts.

Much as we would like to beat down on somebody for this unfortunate outcome, the truth is that we are ourselves to blame as a community, for not being vigilant. The impending demise of Sanford School was indeed brought up in a few exchanges here in 2011 & 2012, but many were focused on other issues.

HWDSB and its trustees are not to be blamed in this saga, for it has been the City Community Services Dept which was essentially leading all civic planning and by default civic engagement at Sanford, Wever School, Pinky Lewis Rec centre.

And it has been the small group of individuals operating via the Wever School (who do provide essential services to Kids), who gave HWDSB the impression that they represented the local community -- and hence the unfortunate chain of events that has led to such an outcome.

My request to the HWDSB is this:

If there is a change of direction viz the demolition of Sanford School, (and I have full confidence that this will be the outcome tonight) -- then in order to rectify the damage done by a faulty process of community engagement, a through assessment must be made to understand how these conditions arose in the first place.

And then, a totally transparent RFP needs to be developed by HWSDB, so that re-development proposals are solicited from across the region or province, and if need be across the nation to ensure that the very best ideas are brought forward.

I hope that the HWDSB trustees makes the right call tonight to alter the course on Sanford School, and turns this crisis into an opportunity to re-invent not just itself, but thru its collaboration with the City of Hamilton, help re-focus the City's "Planning and Community Services Department" to develop a keener understanding of the positive changes that have been already underway in Ward 3 for some years now.

Mahesh P. Butani

Note:

The design schematic in proposal above establishes that all needs of the Wever School and the Pinky Lewis Rec Centre can be easily accommodated without demolishing the Sanford School building -- with the only exception that the Soccer field design has to be seen in the right context.

The size of the soccer field shown in the earlier published drawing, is an Adult Soccer Field with a size of: 60-80 yds x 100-120 yds (or 180 ft-240 ft x 300 ft-360 ft).

Ironically, an adult size soccer field was being proposed for an Elementary School, (upto 5th grade).

This incomprehensible overreach in the size of the Soccer field has led to the faulty conclusions that the Sanford School Building had to be torn down.

The average age of kids in 5th grade is 10-11 yrs. and as such they do not require an Adult Size Soccer Field, but a standard U-10 or U-11 size field -- which is around: 40-50 yds x 70-80 yds (or 150 ft x 240 ft). Kids that age are not able kick as far as an adult could, nor run that much. Hence the different sizes of Soccer field for different age groups.

As things stand, the space available behind - or to the North of the Sanford Building, simply cannot accommodate an adult size soccer field. However, the appropriate size as required for an Elementary school can be easily accommodated at the rear of the Sanford School Building, without having to demolish the main building. Just the removal of the rear gym structure provides ample room for the field.

Other requirements of the Wever School & Pinky Lewis Rec Centre as shown in the drawing above, can also be very easily phased in as the funding for it materializes.

Such an approach does not requires the demolition of the Sanford School Building, which can be re-purposed by the private sector via a public RFP.

The Sanford School redevelopment will generate significant assessment revenues for the city, which then could be used to fund the expansion of the Pinky Lewis Rec Centre and support Kids & Adult programming at the Wever School.

Comment edited by Mahesh_P_Butani on 2012-12-17 14:36:40

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