Township approves site plan for new Rockwood public school
A new public school in Rockwood is one step closer to reality with Guelph-Eramosa council’s approval of the site plan for the $6.2-million, 34,000 square-foot school.
Council endorsed the Upper Grand District School Board’s plan at its meeting on Sept. 3.
The application for the school, which will be built at the end of MacLennan Street in the village’s south end, also required altering the village boundary through Wellington County’s official plan, as well as re-zoning the 2.4-hectare (6-acre) property from agricultural to institutional.
The new two-storey school will initially hold 308 students and will help alleviate overcrowding at Rockwood Centennial Public School on the village’s north side, which is over capacity by about 200 students.
Mayor Chris White, one of many township officials who have lobbied for a new school for years, said the next step for the school board is to “completely secure the property.”
He explained the Ministry of Natural Resources has requested the board “remove the [gravel] pit designation” from the property.
He noted there were no officially-registered objections to the school proposal and the board will move forward with construction as soon as possible, with the goal of opening the new school in September 2014.
