The Battle at Davisville Junior Public School
By Lucas on Feb 27, 2013
The City’s school boards face a severe backlog with regards to updates and maintenance. With more than $3.2 billion worth of maintenance in the system, it’s time to look to new and alternative forms of funding.
The Toronto School Board is looking at partnering with developers. Developers are in need of land, and the board is in need of more schools and upgrades. It’s a partnership that has worked well in the past, with Tridel at Yonge and Eglinton. Tridel worked with the school board to build a state of the art North Toronto Collegiate Institute, while also developing their own twin tower development. New school and new residences – a win for all involved.
In need of more than $8 million in repairs, Davisville Junior Public School is in dire need of help. Once again, the Toronto School Board is looking to partner with a developer on the site, but there is debate over what should be done on the land. As expected, locals are wary of having a 12-storey condo in the neighbourhood (Yonge and Davisville).
“This is going to be a scenario that we’re going to see come up across the city,” said local councillor Josh Matlow to the Globe and Mail. “The school board has a sincere and honest interest in repairing its facilities; the cityhas a sincere and honest interest in protecting its neighbourhoods. And the question is, where do these two interests meet?”
For us, it seems somewhat simple. Just allow developers to build a respectful 12-storey condominium. Some city officials and some locals feel local neighborhoods such as this one should be protected from these types of developments. The truth is, there is already a 25-storey apartment building next to the site, and with its proximity to Yonge Street, it seems like an ideal place for a new mid-rise condo.
As Matlow suggested, developments like these are going to continue to be looked at as we struggle to redevelop our aging infrastructure. Unless anyone else has a better idea, this seems like a perfect fit to us, especially given that we already have one success story in the area.
What do you think about the marriage between schools and condos?
Are we missing something?
Comment below.
