St. Mary's plans to build elementary school in high-rise

Unique project could include residential towers, new hall

Special to The B.C. Catholic

Parish plans for the rebuilding of St. Mary's Elementary School on Joyce Street in Vancouver include plans that will make it the second school in Vancouver with residential units on top of the building.

The project has become part of the City of Vancouver's overall plan to update the Joyce-Collingwood community. Parish plans include two other rental towers on the land as well as a new hall. It is expected to provide over 400 rental units.

The community plan was presented to the City of Vancouver on June 14 and a public hearing was held on June 15. Jack Ong from the parish spoke to council about the urgency of a new school building.

"We have an elementary school that has been assessed and found to be at high risk of failure in a seismic event," he explained.

According to a statement from Father Pierre Leblond, OP, pastor of St. Mary's Parish, they have been raising about $400,000 per year for their building fund.

"Given costs, it will be many years before we can break ground," Father Leblond's statement read. Ong told council they expect the project to cost about $18 million.

The rental units will be studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom suites. There will also be commercial space on the first floor. Ong explained the plan was to use the income from the rental housing to get the project completed.

The parish website indicates the project will be a partnership involving St. Mary's, the Knights of Columbus, and Columbus Charities.

The first phase of the project, expected to run from 2018-2020, includes building a new school with a seniors' tower on top. The old school would continue to operate during this time. On completion, students and seniors could move into the new building.

In the second phase, expected to be completed by 2022, two residential towers and a new parish centre and adoration chapel would be built.

A brochure about the project indicates that no developer has been contracted, but they will "be entering into discussions with qualified parties in the coming months."

Dan Moric, superintendent of Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA), said the plans are still in the early stages.

"This is very much at the conceptual stage, where the archdiocese is aware of the idea and, I would presume, would share in some of the related enthusiasm, but the process for approval is fairly comprehensive and laid out, and that process has not been engaged yet."

He said the scope of the project, the complexity of the plans, and the financial position of the parish would influence the length of the process.

"It is not atypical for projects of such magnitude to take more than a year from conception to approval. It wouldn't be an overnight process."

Having housing on top of a school, Moric said, "is something unique in relationship to schools. It hasn't been envisioned or tried before, and to that end I think it deserves some attention. It is a little early for me to say the degree to which it would impact modelling for schools in the future."

At the June 14 meeting, city council voted to have the matter put over to the June 28 meeting, where they expect to make a decision on the overall community plan.

Moric said the archdiocese would be interested in what the city has to say, "but they concern themselves with different aspects of the approval, for example, the city has no particular interest in the parish's and/or school's financial ability to mount such a project, and what that means kind of pastorally, or for the archdiocese.

"Those would be things that the archdiocese would directly concern themselves with and be involved in."

More information on the Joyce-Collingwood plan, including the St. Mary's School rebuilding, is available on the City of Vancouver website.