Ontario to build first elementary school inside a condo building at Toronto waterfront
Toronto’s waterfront is set to welcome Ontario’s first elementary school built inside of a condo building.
The Ontario government announced the project Friday as part of an effort to create more educational spaces in the downtown core.
“With many families living in condos and high-density urban communities, we believe their children deserve access to modern and safe schools in the hearts of their communities,” Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said.
The Lower Yonge Precinct Elementary School will accept 455 students to their Yonge and Harbour streets location, with a completion date set for the 2024-25 school year.
In addition to an elementary school slotted on the third floor of the building, the City of Toronto has also secured space for a child care centre directly below it on the second floor.
“If we want to build up this city and our neighbourhoods, we need to ensure that residents have access to all the services they need, including schools – this is one example of how we will achieve this,” Mayor John Tory said.
The project has been in the works for seven years now, according to Toronto District School Board (TDSB) spokesperson, Ryan Bird.
“It's learning where you live,” he said.
With the latest numbers estimating about 13,000 people populating the waterfront’s Lower Yonge Precinct, Bird said community services like a public school will be essential.
The Ontario government is investing $44 million in the new project in partnership with the TDSB and Menkes Developments.
Like a condo owner, the TDSB shares joint possession of the building’s entire third floor with Menkes, Bird said.
While the vertical school is unconventional, Bird said there is an ongoing effort to make it feel like any other, equipped with a gym, a music room and a library.
“Yes, it's unique,” Bird said. “But then it's still just your average school and we want to make sure the students feel welcome.”
Once the school is complete, the province said it aims to replicate the vertical community in more high-density neighbourhoods in Ontario.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.