Spending millions to bring Windsor's oldest public schools back to life

After being forced to leave heritage schools relatively untouched for many years, the local public school board continues to pour money into its historic schools.

The Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) spent more than $6 million on three school buildings in the last two years that are on the Windsor Municipal Heritage Register. Queen Victoria, Prince Edward and Hugh Beaton public schools were also honoured last week during city council with 2020 Built Heritage Awards.

"Having the buildings sit, I think they go unnoticed, they deteriorate a little bit more and that causes some of the structural issues that we run into," said Brad Gyori, the board's coordinator of capital projects. 

"[The schools] kind of went under the radar," he said.

Sometimes the heritage value far outweighs the monetary value.- Bill Tucker, retired director of education at the Thames Valley District School Board

That's why heritage projects also come with an element of unknown, which can make them most costly compared to fixing something newer.

"It's somewhat of a domino effect when you start opening up the front facade and then you realize that there are structural issues and repairs that need to be done," said Gyori.

Queen Victoria demolition & restoration of gym floor:

Kennedy Collegiate high school is a prime example of that. The initial budget of $4.5 million covered minor repairs, which quickly turned into replacing half of the facade because some of the support steel rusted "close to failure." The project cost rose to nearly $5 million.

Ministry continues funding for old schools

To help ease the burden, the Ministry of Education has been increasing the renewal budget for school boards. Budgets went up beginning in the 2015-16 school year — during the days of Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne — and has continued this year with $1.4 billion for Ontario school repairs.

The bulk of that funding goes toward what's known as the School Condition Improvement program, that helps boards renovate "aged building components that have exceeded or will exceed their useful life cycle," according to the ministry.

For 35 years, Bill Tucker spent time in the public education system from being a teacher to director of education at the Thames Valley District School Board.

He saw the funding model change drastically over in the last 20 years where trustees could hike tax rates to fund new schools or renovations. Now, the province holds the purse strings.

But, even though it may be easier to build a new school, that doesn't always mean it's the right idea.

"Sometimes the heritage value far outweighs the monetary value. That comes from the sensitivity of the community, and the heritage and the history of the community," said Tucker.

The GECDSB has 12 active schools that are on the city's heritage registry. This year, the board plans to spend $4 million to $5 million on heritage school renovations.

Front facade of Hugh Beaton was dismantled and reassembled: