BARRHEAD - A year after its closure, it seems the fate of the Alberta Distance Learning Centre (ADLC) building in Barrhead is still up in the air.
The Barrhead Leader reached out to Alberta Infrastructure at the end of June to determine what was happening to the physical building, which was constructed in the early 1980s and were told that the " … only government program utilizing space at the Alberta Distance Learning Centre is the Ministry of Education’s print shop operations. Alberta’s government continues to review options for this building.”
Formerly known as the Alberta Correspondence School, the ADLC shuttered its doors at the end of the 2020-2021 school year.
Previously, the Pembina Hills School Division had an agreement with the province to operate the ADLC. In early 2020, the division was informed the province would end that agreement within two years and reduce funding for the ADLC to $14 million in 2020-2021 and $7 million in 2021-2022.
After determining it would simply be unfeasible to operate the ADLC on a $7 million budget, Pembina Hills opted to shut down the centre a year ahead of time. Some of the 120 employees were shifted to new positions at community schools throughout the division.
The fate of the physical building was left up in the air, though Alberta Infrastructure indicated that it would consult with other government departments to determine if they had a use for the facility.
Town of Barrhead mayor Dave McKenzie said he and a number of councillors took a guided tour of the ADLC building shortly after its closure “so we could have a better understanding of what could potentially take occupancy of that structure.
“We certainly saw that it was designed for the purpose that it had been used for all those years,” McKenzie said.
He said they have made follow-up inquiries with Alberta Infrastructure about the fate of the building but have been told there has been no decision.
McKenzie said there has been a fair amount of discussion at council about this building and this has included a number of organizations in the community, as well as the County of Barrhead.
However, no practical strategy has been developed and “we have not been approached by anyone to occupy the building at this time.”
Pembina Hills board chair Judy Lefebvre said she also has not been approached by any outside groups potentially interested in utilizing the building.
“It has been asked around the board table by the new trustees ‘What’s going to happen to ADLC?’ But no one seems to know,” she said.
Lefebvre said they didn’t broach the subject during a recent meeting with Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, who toured Barrhead and Westlock elementary schools June 24.
“I know they are still doing printing down on the bottom level, but I think the upper floors are still vacant,” she said.
On a final note, those wishing to learn more about the history of the ADLC, which dates back 75 years to the establishment of a Correspondence Branch within the Department of Education, can visit adlcmemories.ca.
This website was established by a volunteer committee of former staff members as a memorial to the ADLC.
