The Catholic school board has about one year to secure funding for a new Catholic Central High School at Windsor Arena and Windsor Water World, council decided Monday.

The city and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board agreed long ago the site can be used to build a new Catholic Central High School.

But the plan cannot go ahead until the province approves funding for the project.

Mayor Drew Dilkens said Monday that Windsor Water World will be open through half of 2016, but if there's no response from the province, the city may look at other options for the site.

"Our preference would be that the school board receives funding for a new Catholic Central. We think that would be a great addition to that particular corner in the downtown. But if they don't recieve funding ... I think we're just going to have to look at other opportunities that exist," Dilkens said.

The school board has been lobbying the province for a new Catholic Central for seven years. Seven times the province denied funding.

The province announced plans last month to spend $498 million on various school-related projects across Ontario, including the construction of new schools in Windsor and Tecumseh. Funding for a new Catholic Central was not part of the announcement.

The city has already agreed to sell the property to the school board for $1.

Council voted Monday to write a letter to the Ontario Ministry of Education, encouraging it to provide the necessary funding to build the new school at the Windsor Arena/Water World site.