Central ARC presents options tonight
The Barrie Advance http://www.simcoe.com/community/barrieinnisfil/article/933158
BARRIE – The public has its last chance to bring ideas forward to save Barrie Central at tonight’s public meeting.
“This is the third public meeting and at the next one, scheduled for Feb. 22, the committee will present its findings,” said Stuart Bailey, the ARC member who will outline the options. “(Tonight) is the first real opportunity to see the options the Accommodation Review Committee has come up with and provide feedback.”
Over the past several months, the ARC discussed an array of information and came up with alternatives, which were whittled down to two last week.
One includes closing Barrie Central and sending its students to Barrie North – which would then take over Oakley Park elementary school across the street.
The other is to keep the Barrie Central community intact until at least 2016 so partnerships could be explored and strengthened. This would ultimately create a “super school” that would accommodate as many as 2,000 students who would come for specialized programs, such as arts, said Bailey.
“It would give us time to understand where the growth pressures in the city will be and time to understand the funding opportunities. It would prevent kids from going into portables,” he said.
On the agenda to speak is Dr. Werner Fabian, who has a practice on Toronto Street.
“My concern is the city gets more and more emptied,” he said. “They’re squeezing life out of the inner city and the emptier it gets, the worse it becomes to live. That’s what we’re battling here.”
Former CFB Borden heating supervisor Murray Welch, meanwhile, plans to ask questions during the open microphone session. He said the board came to a mistaken conclusion about Barrie Central and didn’t consult its maintenance staff for a best option to address the boilers.
The meeting takes place at the Fisher Auditorium, Barrie Central, at 7 p.m. tonight.
lwatt@simcoe.com
