Whether the Town of Fort Frances will find a use for old Fort High is still up in the air, but the planning committee is one step closer to finding out after receiving an early draft of an engineering report late Tuesday afternoon.
“The ball is in our court as far as terms of a proposal goes,” CAO Bill Naturkach said Wednesday.
Naturkach and the rest of the committee met with Bydesign, a branch of DST Consulting Engineers, to receive the report, which was culled from an engineering report on the vacant building last month.
“But we’re still in the evolution process,” he added. “We have to do the math with the business plan. In the next two weeks, we’ll be in a position to speak with the school board.”
As to what the First Street East building could be used for, Naturkach wouldn’t reveal at this point. “We’re looking at it for potential use, whether that will be part of the building or more,” he noted.
“All I can tell you is there’s some private-sector interest in part of the building. Whether or not there’s any revenue-bearing possibilities for it is something we’ll discuss,” Mayor Glenn Witherspoon had said previously.
The “Re-Inventing Fort Frances” committee also has included the property in its designs for a parking lot, park, amphitheatre, and possible office space.
The Rainy River District School Board previously has stated the structure likely will be demolished soon if no buyers are found because maintaining it has proven too costly over the past two-and-a-half years.
