Closing old schools to build new ones takes the 'nucleus' out of a community, says professor

The practice of closing an old school to builda new one somewhere else can pull the heart right out of a community andis"irresponsible," according to a St. Clair College architecture professor.

The GreaterEssexCounty District School Board is considering the future of three elementary schools in the Forest Glade area and five inLeamington.

• 3 Windsor elementary schools targeted for closure

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But WilliamRawlingsargues leaving old buildings vacant can cause blight and is a major blow to neighbourhoods.

"By removing that nucleus you're providing a huge disservice to that community," said the professor.

Board chairperson Kim McKinley said the decision to renovate a school versus building a new one "isn't taken lightly." She said shuttering schools is by far the most difficult part of her job, and each time the impact on surrounding neighbourhoods is considered a factor.

"That kind of thing weighs on my mind a lot," she said. "I do think about that impact before I make those decisions. You just hope that the one you make is the best one you could have made."

Between a rock and hard place

Rawlingssaid he agrees decisionsare becoming more difficult because there isn't enough funding to repair"costly" buildings.

The older structures are "built like tanks," he said, but require a lot of money to renovate especially when it comes to mechanical issues, electrical problems, handicap accessibility and classroom sizes.

"They don't have the property to kind of grow ... but because some of our zoning laws don't allow us to [build] up, they're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place," he said.

• School closure talk 'incredibly unpopular' in Windsor or anywhere else

In the last several years, the public board has closed 16 schools and built at least eight new ones. Many of the shuttered schoolshave been re-purposed, but five still sit vacant.

Remodel to keep the core

Rawlings thinks there may be an opportunity to sit back and look at the bigger picture before deciding to close a school in favour of a new one.

"There's always these knee jerk reactions where you have to do this right away," he said.

Instead, he suggests remodeling one school to see how that goes and take a look at how it'sworked in other municipalities such as Toronto.

"There's some larger remodeling that can happen, but the core of the school still sits there," Rawlings explained.

A public meeting to discuss the future of Forest Glade,Parkviewand Eastwood public schools is being held Wednesday at 6 p.m. Residents are invited to attend and voice their opinions.