The sale of the former Blanshard Elementary School to the Capital Regional Hospital District — which was opposed by the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association — has been finalized.
Greater Victoria school board vice-chairwoman Diane McNally said the sale was contingent on approval from the Ministry of Education, which has now been received. The deal applies to the school and the grounds directly around it.
Plans call for a 320-unit seniors residential-care facility, called the Summit, to be built in the field area. No long-term plan has been set for the building area, but it will be used for parking and storage of materials during construction of the care complex.
The sale puts the property back in “the larger public realm,” McNally said, adding that some members of the community were not behind the sale.
Blanshard Elementary, on Hillside Avenue near Blanshard Street, was closed in 2003 as enrolment fell, and has since been used by private educational institutions under terms of a 99-year lease set by the district in 2004.
GVTA president Benula Larsen said last week that the sale should be reconsidered, noting that enrolment in the district was up in September by about 400 students. However, district superintendent Piet Langstraat said projections indicated that the school, would not be needed.
The hospital district reached an agreement for the bulk of the school property, the 1.4-hectare field portion bordering Hillside Avenue, in 2013. The school district received $500,000 for each section of the site. The remaining cost — $6.0 million for the field area and $5.3 million for the building area — is to purchase the balance of the lease, which was held by private interests.
Completion of the deal calls for the tenant at the school, Vancouver Career (Burnaby) Inc., to be allowed to stay for five years
