Best of 2015: Re-Visiting the Memorial Centre as the Site for a New Secondary School

Just when we thought it was settled, a group of Kingstonians re-opened the idea of placing Kingston’s new highschool on the grounds of The Memorial Centre. We asked Kingstonist readers what they thought of the proposed plan which resulted in an almost neck and neck poll. Five months later, this is still a hot topic for those who’s children will be attending the school and others who live in the neighbourhood.
New concept plans (shown above) depicting a secondary school on the Memorial Centre grounds may differ from those previously produced by ZAS Architects for the Limestone District School Board, but they’ve managed to reignite the conversation and controversy about where Kingston’s future consolidated super-school should be built. The plans were released through a new website that strongly supports the idea of using land surrounding the Memorial Centre for Kingston’s new secondary school.

In February of this year, Kingston City Council voted 9-3 to not re-open discussion about the Memorial Centre as a potential site for the new high school. The city’s previous council voted similarly. The motion passed in February listed several reasons in support of their decision including the amount of money that was spent to revitalize the park, as well as the lack of green space in the Williamsville and Kingscourt-Strathcona. Since its multimillion dollar revitalization, The Memorial Centre grounds have become an important neighbourhood gathering space for dog walkers, runners, families looking to cool off on a hot day, baseball, soccer and even cricket players. And don’t forget the ever-growing farmers’ market that has made the M-Centre a weekend destination for many.

Earlier this month, The Limestone District School Board purchased the Kingscourt Branch of the Kingston Public Library with plans to use the land located next to QECVI as the site for the new school. The Limestone District School Board has not weighed in on this most recent development, and in all likelihood they will probably remain tight lipped. Considering the twists and turns that have brought us to this point, and city council’s insistence of keeping the subject closed, this week’s poll asks:

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What do you think of the new vision for a school on the grounds of the Memorial Centre? If you are opposed to the M-Centre grounds as a potential site, do these plans make you reconsider your position? Why should or shouldn’t we re-open this conversation?

Photo credit to Memorial Secondary.