MOOSE JAW — Empire School is no longer in operation, but an adjacent ball diamond could live on as a site for fastball use — if the city can reach an agreement with the province.
During its recent executive committee meeting, city council authorized city administration to start negotiations with Prairie South School Division and the Province of Saskatchewan for the potential subdivision and acquisition of the ball diamond, roughly 1.14 acres in size.
If successful, the Moose Jaw and District Minor Girls’ Fastball Association and City of Moose Jaw would continue using the venue for recreational purposes.
Also, administration will identify the maximum costs of the site, which will form the basis for the land acquisition negotiations, with the municipality’s land development fund (miscellaneous reserve account) to be the source of funding.
City manager Maryse Carmichael told MooseJawToday.com that this is a new situation for the city, where four schools are closing and one joint-use school is opening. Therefore, city hall is looking to be proactive in potentially acquiring this ball diamond for future use.
Carmichael commended Derek Blais, director of community services, for being proactive in preserving the venue and ensuring recreation groups and sports teams can still access the ball diamond.
Meanwhile, Carmichael did not know how much the city might pay for the venue, but pointed out that the province has special provisions for municipalities that want to acquire school buildings or land. She didn’t know the details of those special provisions but noted that city hall is investigating what they might entail while discussing the situation with the province.
Continuing, the city manager said it’s up to the province and school divisions — Holy Trinity Catholic School Division is the other organization closing schools on South Hill — to decide what they will do with those buildings.
Prairie South has closed Empire and Westmount schools, while Holy Trinity has closed Sacred Heart and St. Mary’s. The new joint-use school in southwest Moose Jaw will be called Coteau Hills Elementary School and Our Lady of Hope Elementary School.
“I don’t know if it makes sense even for the city to acquire potentially some of those buildings,” Carmichael said. “I think in the last few years, we’re more in the business of consolidating our own footprint.”
The city has sold a handful of buildings during the past several years, such as the former sports vault on Fairford Street West, which is positive since the public can use those structures for other purposes, she continued.
“But, certainly, we’re open to the discussion (of potentially acquiring the former school buildings) if council wants us to have the discussion,” Carmichael added.
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