The old Fort Frances High School on First Street East may not be sitting vacant much longer now that a group has shown preliminary interest in the building, Mayor Glenn Witherspoon revealed yesterday.
“We have a group that is attempting to raise money and do environmental tests and a feasibility study,” he noted.
“As to their exact nature or what they intend to do, I don’t know for sure,” he added. “But if we see a future there, I know there are some people interested in office and business expansions.”
While Mayor Witherspoon noted he wasn’t at liberty to say who the possible developers were, he said he was excited by the possibilities of seeing the large property utilized.
“For the good of the town, we can’t leave it like this,” he stressed.
The study may get going in a month or so, added Mayor Witherspoon.
But all this appears to be news to the Rainy River District School Board, which said interest in the property remains low–at least, officially.
“Currently, we’re still trying to sell it,” Laura Mills, the board’s chief financial officer, said Monday, adding she’s not brought any offers to the board since the old high school went on the market.
“And the board has ‘mothballed’ it in order to save some money. It’s quite expensive to keep even minimal utilities going,” she added.
Prior to last fall, the board had forked out $90,000-$100,000 to keep the utilities on there.
The board had spent considerable money on the building’s upkeep because the utilities, such as electricity and water, were necessary to show off the school to prospective buyers.
But trustees have since voted to not pay those costs, electing instead to simply secure the school. Besides an active alarm system, the Fort Frances O.P.P. periodically checks the outside of the building.
While Mills wasn’t sure of the estimated cost of demolishing the building, she noted it’s been looked into and found to be “very expensive.”
But if nothing comes of this new interest, the issue likely will return to the trustees for another look.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
