King Edward School news

[Chris E]

Updated January 2009

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http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/new ... 1b&k=61881

Historic sandstone school sold for $14.1M
Sarah McGinnis, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, November 09, 2007
An historic sandstone school has fetched more than $14.1 million to help the Calgary Board of Education build and repair other schools across Calgary.

Built in 1912, King Edward School has been sold to Lake Placid Group.

The developer has pledged to retain the sandstone structure in southwest Calgary as part of its plans for the property.

The 95-year-old building and 1.25 hectares of land had originally been thought to earn the school board around $11 million.

This is the fourth school the CBE has sold in the past four years. The money will go toward building new schools or repairing existing facilities.

smcginnis @ theherald.canwest.com

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King Edward School Sold To Private Developer
Nov, 09 2007 - 2:10 PM

CALGARY/AM770CHQR - The Calgary Board of Education has sold the vacant King Edward School to a Calgary developer for $14 million.
The exact future of the School in southwest Calgary remains a mystery though.

The developer who bought the sandstone facility says his company still hasn't come up with a definitive proposal for what to do with the building.
Michael Lopsinger does say they will restore the sandstone school, but there are several proposal his company is looking at.

He's hinting the open space around the school is gone due to the economics of the project.

The CBE says part of the $14 million sale price will go to the back log in maintance the school board faces.

[newsposter]

Buyer vows to breathe new life into landmark
Sandstone building will be preserved
Sarah McGinnisCalgary Herald
Saturday, November 10, 2007

New life is coming to King Edward School now that a private developer has purchased the historic building.
The Calgary Board of Education announced Friday it sold the 95-year-old school and 1.25 hectares surrounding it to Lake Placid Group for $14.1 million.
"We're very excited. This is a 1912 landmark. Lake Placid is really looking forward to continuing that historic opportunity and to build something that's going to be retained for another hundred years," said company CEO Michael Lobsinger.
He would not indicate whether the firm plans to build condominiums, homes or a commercial project on the site.
The property, zoned residential, will probably face rezoning as converting the existing school into condos, stores or mixed-use space would violate current city building bylaws.
Much of the fields surrounding the sandstone school could also see new construction as part of a number of plans Lake Placid has for the property.
King Edward School isn't a designated heritage site and is not protected from demolition. The property is, however, included in the city's inventory of potential heritage buildings and has considerable historic value.
Neighbours and community groups are taking a wait-and-see approach to the project.
There are concerns about the loss of green space in the neighbourhood and apprehension over developments that may not fit into the largely residential area, said South Calgary Community Association spokeswoman Robin McLeod.
"Because King Edward has played a public role in our community since 1912, we're hoping that there will be some public component to it so it will be forever open in some capacity to the public," said McLeod.
The preservation of King Edward School was one of the main conditions of the sale, said CBE board chairwoman Pat Cochrane.
"We know our sandstone schools are very important to the history of Calgary and are some of the very few historical buildings still existing in Calgary. It was very important to us that whoever was the successful bidder would maintain this facility," said Cochrane.
The $14.1 million sale price for the school is $3.2 million more than expected.
smcginnis@theherald.canwest.com


© The Calgary Herald 2007

[newsposter]

A developer who lost the bid for King Edward questions the tendering process... Herald Story December 7, 2007
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/new ... 97dad7afd2

The Townscape Group's (losing) proposal:

[newsposter]

New developer website

http://www.kingedwardproject.ca/

[newsposter]

About the history of King Edward school, but Kristi Johnson of CHI and Chinook Country Historical Society at this link:

http://calgaryheritage.org/CHIForum/viewto ... =1124#1124

[newsposter]

The current proposal for the King Edward School site is a private social and athletic club (e.g. like the Glencoe), built primarily below ground, including under the school. There would be 6-7 storeys of underground facilities and parking. The proposal would leave the school intact (newer additions would be removed) and highly visible on the landscape, as it would not be surrounded by buildings. As far as we understand, there is still work to do on this proposal and it is not yet formalized or the subject of a development application, so there may be many changes yet to this very ambitious and challenging proposal.

[newsposter]

May 2008 - A development application was made for this proposal. More to follow...

[newsposter]

The proposal for the King Edward School site described above was not supported by City Administration and has been withdrawn by the applicant as of late fall 2008. It is unsure what will happen next.

[newsposter]

Newsposter has heard that Lake Placid has withdrawn its purchase agreement for King Edward School and the CBE will be putting it back on the market.

[newsposter]

you heard it here ^ first...

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/200 ... 6-sun.html

Calgary Sun, January 23, 2009

School site's sale suspended
By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA

The cancellation of the sale of a 97-year-old southwest school site has community activists hoping the building can be preserved or accept students once again.

The Calgary Board of Education confirmed yesterday the sale of King Edward school at 1720 30 Ave. S.W. to the Lake Placid Developments Group -- which was unloaded by the CBE in 2001 and closed in 2003 -- has fallen through.

The company had planned to build a private athletic and social club on the site but with that proposal dead, Robin McLeod with the South Calgary Community Association is hoping the block can be used by local residents again.

"People who live adjacent to King Edward school are happy the plan fell through and everybody hopes the school can be preserved or retrofitted for other use," she said.

Lake Placid's proposal would have eliminated public green space and reverted the entire site to private use, said Mcleod.

A 2001 study estimated merely removing the asbestos from the building would cost $200,000, millions to totally renovate it and $50,000 a year to maintain.

There are no plans to return students or administrators to the school, said CBE spokesman Ted Flitton.

[newsposter]

[newsposter]

Last we heard the school board was entertaining expressions of interest to purchase this site - second time around. While we curiously wait, here is a story about Clancy Patton's year at King Edward School, from his excellent website of Calgary memories:

http://www.calgarymemories.com/index.ph ... &Itemid=10

[Lyall]

I'm new to the area and love the old school. Does anyone have any recent news on what's planned for the site?

[newsposter]

I was on a Jane's Walk tour of the are on May 1, and we heard that a well-known Calgary property company that specializes in heritage preservation and adaptive reuse had attempted to purchase the site in the last few weeks, but that it didn't work out. As far as we know, the CBE still has the site for sale.

[newsposter]

In the July 6 2010 Calgary Herald, B4, an ad from the CBE that King Edward School is for sale (again) by public tender:

Tender information available at CBE Highfield Building, 3610 - 9th Street SE. Submission deadline, August 19, 2010. For further info contact Sherri Lambourne, 403-214-1132.