The School District No. 46 (SD46) board wants to make it clear they have no appetite for a cultural complex at the old Sechelt Elementary School property after hearing from some Sechelt councillors that they are eyeing the site.
At the May 8 school board meeting, chair Silas White reported he and some fellow trustees heard at a recent intergovernmental meeting that the District of Sechelt wants to use the old school building for a cultural complex.
"All of us from School District No. 46 were shocked at the end of the meeting when the District of Sechelt presented their new strategic plan which includes a very explicitly stated goal to turn our property, the Sechelt Learning Centre, into a cultural complex," White said in his report, noting there have been no discussions with SD46.
He said Coun. Darnelda Siegers asked about the consultation process for possible changes to the learning centre months ago, but that he sent her a report saying SD46 has "no interest in having a cultural complex on this site."
"She didn't follow up - that is until she and Mayor Henderson ambushed us with this plan," White said.
Trustees were upset by White's report and moved to write a letter to council that coveys the school district's desire not to have a cultural complex on site and that requires consultation with SD46 before any plans to use the site are made public.
The letter was not yet received when Coast Reporter contacted Sechelt Mayor John Henderson. However, he said using the former elementary building for a cultural complex was just an idea, not something the District planned to move forward with any time soon, and not without consultation.
"We said here's our three year strategic plan and one of the things under high impact, long-term goals is, and I quote, 'access to Sechelt elementary property for downtown cultural centre etc.,'" Henderson said.
"So these are strategic plans, they're concepts. They get into the long-term. Heck, we've got one very long-term goal that's a railroad between the two waters. Do I think it's going to happen? Probably not, but you use these things to figure out, well, maybe not a railroad, but how about something else? You get into a creative conversation."
He expected the idea to spark a conversation with SD46, but said he never meant to imply Sechelt planned to do as they wished with school district property.
"It's a gorgeous piece of property, but it isn't ours," he noted.
He said the cultural centre idea is something the newly reinstated Sechelt cultural complex task force is looking into, but at this time council simply wants to get a clear vision of cultural needs.
"Darnelda Siegers has been appointed the chair [of the Sechelt cultural complex task force] and her first job over the next little while is to get caught up and get some clarity around what really is our vision around anything to do with culture," Henderson said. "In no way are we saying we're going to build a cultural centre."
