City councillors ask for more information before considering new school location in Saskatoon's Optimist Park

Councillors in Saskatoon want more research to be done before approving Optimist Park as a potential location for a new school.

At a committee meeting on Tuesday, Saskatoon Public Schools asked councillors to consider the possibility of allowing the City Centre School project to be built in the park.

While the new school was originally slated to be built on the site of the current Princess Alexandra School, the division is now asking about the potential to build on Optimist Park as well.

However, Councillor Marin Loewen said she wanted more information before proceeding further, and asked administration to write a report on the proposal.

"I'm definitely interested in facilitating further conversation and consideration of this site," she said.

"I think we need to be quite thorough in our own processes to ensure our obligations to residents and to the community are fulfilled."

The City Centre School would amalgamate three aging schools in the area — Pleasant Hill, King George and Princess Alexandra — into one large building. The new school could cost anywhere from $22.5 million to $25 million to build. The public school board estimates renovating the three existing schools would cost $68 million. 

Since word of the division's consideration of Optimist Park as a potential location came out, some people who live in the area became concerned that the school would remove precious green space from the area.

However, the school division said the school building would only take up roughly half of the park, which covers a total of 7.5 acres.

Division says park site is quieter

Division representatives told councillors the park site had many advantages, including a more-centrally based location so students wouldn't have as far to travel. As well, the park site is much quieter than the Princess Alexandra School site, which is located between a set of train tracks and two busy roads.

"It's surrounded by residential development," said superintendent of facilities Stan Laba.

"The surrounding streets are relatively quiet and much less busy than 20th Street, which is a factor for the Princess Alex site."

Councillors asked if other sites had been identified as potential areas for the school project. However, the division said it was only considering those two sites at present.

An offer to build the school on the site of the City Centre Church, on the corner of Ave. H S. and 20th St. W., had previously been turned down.

Administration said it would try to draft a report on the location's suitability within the month.

If the Optimist Park site is approved for consideration by council, the school division would write its own report over the next few months and report back to council on which site it had chosen.

The school division said it planned to meet with representatives from different community associations in the area on Wednesday night, and planned to also talk to school community councils in the near future.

If everything goes to plan, the City Centre School will open in either 2024 or 2025.