A 1.9-acre portion of the eight-acre Lansdowne Middle School south campus land may soon house an end-of-life support centre, if a $2.5-million sale is approved.
The Greater Victoria School District has entered into an agreement with the Victoria Hospice Society and is waiting on approval from the Ministry of Education and SD61 board of education to seal the deal, it announced Thursday (Oct. 14).
If approved, the site will be used for a new Centre of Excellence for Victoria Hospice, devoted to grief support, education and end-of-life programs.
The demand for such programs in Victoria is growing, hospice CEO Kevin Harter said in a statement. “Victoria Hospice must adapt and expand to ensure we can continue to meet the needs of our community.”
Proceeds from the sale would be used to renovate and replace existing Greater Victoria schools, including making more environmentally-friendly changes to buildings.
“The district needs to make significant capital investments to minimize our environmental impact. Over the short term and long term, we have schools that will require significant upgrades – and we need to start allocating dollars now to fund carbon neutral schools,” SD61 board chair Ann Whiteaker said.
Earlier in October, SD61 confirmed the sale of a 7.3-acre piece of its Lansdowne north campus land to B.C.’s Francophone school district, Conseil Scolaire Francophone de la Colombie-Britannique. The $15-million purchase, funded from the provincial government, will finance a new school building for Ecole Beausoleil, whose kindergarten to Grade 3 students are currently learning out of portables.
If approved by the ministry and school board, the south campus sale will move to a public engagement progress. An online information session is planned for Nov. 3. Watch sd61.bc.ca for more information.
READ ALSO: Land sale confirms Francophone school’s future on Lansdowne grounds
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