Sarnia’s oldest high school building, closed since 2019, could be reopening to students again.
Toronto-area developer Rakesh Gupta, who purchased the 1922-built Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School (SCITS) property last yearhad asked for rezoning and an official plan amendment to open a private high school in the building, including converting space into dormitories and classrooms, and setting aside space for an 86-spot daycare.
Sarnia city council Monday unanimously voted in favor of the changes for 275 Wellington St.
“I think your ideas are tremendous,” said Coun. Mike Stark.
The school would have space for 253 students, 228 in dorms – which could also be used for Lambton College students – and the project, once completed, is expected to create 20 school and 20 daycare jobs, said Monteith Brown Planning Consultant’s Jay McGuffin, representing Gupta at the council meeting.
If the school proposal doesn’t work out, there’s also the opportunity for residential uses in the building, he said.
“Our clients are proposing to bring new life into the building,” he said, noting that’s with minimal changes to the historical exterior facade of the 100-year-old structure.
Preserving the facade is a priority, he said.
“I know a number of people feel great that the building is going to remain intact,” said Coun. Bill Dennis.
Students and staff from SCITS and the former St. Clair Secondary merged to become Great Lakes high school in 2016, staying at the former SCITS location until 2019, when the school community moved to its current home on Murphy Road, near Wellington Street.
Council members had talked about the importance of preserving the SCITS building for reuse. And the city expressed an interest in the property when it was being sold by the Lambton Kent District School Board, so council, officials said, could be kept learned of developments.
count. Dave Boushy said he’s happy to see the project reach this point.
“We have been waiting a long time for this,” he said.
Public consultation on the proposal last fall was met with support, including from neighboring Vision ’74 Inc. that had expressed interest in the property for housingthe city report says.
Additions to the building made in the 1960s would house classrooms and potentially a gymnasium, McGuffin said.
A report to council notes some of the expansion sections could be removed in the future.
No new buildings are proposed at this time and any future redevelopment would require further public consultation, the report says.
There’s also a small space for commercial, the plans show.
A Mitton Village Community Development Advisory Committee was struck in the wake of the 2016 schools merger, amid concerns about the struggling neighborhood and commercial sector anchored – at the time – by the SCITS building and the derelict, long-vacant Sarnia General Hospital, that was eventually demolished and cleaned up by local investors.
“Those issues appear to be resolving very quickly and I believe that Mitton Village is going to be a very different place in the next couple of years,” said Coun. Brian White, calling the looming redevelopment “a significant step forward.”
He also praised the ownership group for connecting with neighbors and local businesses in Mitton Village.
“They truly understand that when you build a community, it requires being a part of the community rather than just coming in and imposing your own vision of what the space is,” he said.
A neighbor who said she was happy about the idea, but concerned about things like noise, and who requested that developers build a fence, was told by Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley she’ll be kept in the loop about the site plan process.
Stark said he’s hopeful the southern, open-field section of the property can be used for affordable housing in the future.