Athabasca County has discussed selling the Old Brick School to Northern Lakes College as one option under consideration for the building’s future.
At council’s Oct. 29 meeting, councillors came up with a few ideas on what could be done with the school.
Coun. Larry Armfelt said he was at a Northern Lakes College meeting when the idea was brought up about the college buying the school for $1 and paying all the restoration costs.
“The condition of the sale would be that they keep the exterior the same,” he assured.
But others didn’t want to settle on a choice just yet.
“I’d be a little hesitant to make a decision like that without public input,” Coun. Christie Bilsky remarked.
Coun. Denis Willcott agreed, adding that they haven’t heard thoughts from county residents nor how much taxpayer money they’d be willing to spend on restoration.
Coun. Kevin Haines made note that the public would need a fact sheet on the actual cost of fixing the building.
“We don’t want them to think we’re selling it cheaply,” he said. “There’s a lot of money that will have to go in.”
Neither the Town of Athabasca nor the county, who jointly own the school, have figured out the price tag for the restoration project, but the county did hear back from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation on designating the site as a provincial historic resource (PHR).
The Foundation offers matching grants for feasibility studies to the tune of a $25,000 maximum.
Coun. Paul Ponich suggested council go with the feasibility study, but noted that he expected the town to also pay a share of the matching grant since it’s a co-owner of the building.
For the most part, owner of PHRs can make changes to the interior of the building, so long as they fit with the building and safety codes of the day and ensure the historical and architectural character is kept the same.
“What the public doesn’t realize is that (the Old Brick School) is available to the public,” reeve Doris Splane pointed out.
County administration said it would do more research and bring that back to the table at a future meeting.
A follow-up joint meeting between town and county councils has not been scheduled.
