Tentative agreement reached on old Fort High

The Town of Fort Frances reached a memorandum of understanding with Stratton Equipment Sales and Service at an in-camera session of the committee of the whole Monday night, outlining the principles of an agreement for the partial demolition of the old Fort Frances High School on First Street East.
“It’s a big project for the community,” said CAO Bill Naturkach yesterday. “We’re pretty excited about it.”
The tentative agreement was passed by a vote of four to three, and has been forwarded to the town solicitor to turn the memorandum into a formal legal document.
Until that happens, details of the agreement cannot be made public, but Naturkach did say the agreement involves “recycling” part of the old school.
“[Stratton Equipment] will be taking ownership and recycling the current site with partial demolition,” the CAO said.
“They will determine which parts are retainable and purposeful,” he said, adding there would be “some rehabilitation.”
When Stratton Equipment first expressed an interest in the property in April of this year, they asked the town to consider:
•waiving the tipping fee at the landfill for materials removed from the structure;
•selling a lot on Eighth Street near Portage Avenue for $1, to be used as a sub-base for the lot; and
•providing 10 years of property tax relief to give an opportunity to demolish, clean, and restore the site, and give the business time to become economically stable to bear the tax burden.
Naturkach said that it is unknown how long it will take to get the legal documents ready and finalized, but that “the proponents are anxious to move forward.”
When asked whether the library had been considered in discussions regarding the property, the CAO said, “We’ve had regard for the library’s needs from day one. But those needs are on the somewhat far horizon.
“It’s not tangible enough to form a true, valid, brick-and-mortar part of our discussions,” he said, adding that, “It’s not off the table.”
In related news, there will be a public meeting tomorrow night upstairs at the Fort Frances Museum where architect John Stephenson will present his final report on the future development of the library. This meeting starts at 7 p.m.