The Citizen, 2005-09-29, Page 28PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005.
Business people hear historic vision for Blyth
The largest gathering of Blyth
business people in many years
gathered in Memorial Hall. Sept. 20
to hear a historic vision for mam
street
They came to hear Steven
Sparling elaborate on the Blyth Idea
Group’s vision for a co-ordinated
main street vision using the Historic
Blyth theme now in use on street
signs along Queen Street.
Sparling said that after long
discussions among BIG members
and many experts, it had been
concluded that before the village
could expect to fill its empty
storefronts with new businesses
there needed to be a sense that
something exciting was happening
— an “excitement infrastructure".
The first step has been new signs to
point out the many assets of the
village.
He pledged BIG's help to try to
extend this Historic Blyth signage
theme to all streets in the village to
replace the faded, often
haphazardly-placed signs that have
been up for many years.
The next step is to carry out the
historic theme by making use of the
main street’s Victorian architecture.
He illustrated what could be done by
showing slides from businesses in
other towns and villages that had
emphasized the historic nature of
Declining enrolment threatens
St. Joseph’s school’s future
their buildings through changes big
and small.
He urged businesses to use paints
from heritage paint lines available
through local suppliers to recreate
the original look of the street. Signs
that are front-lit, rather than
illuminated from the interior also
help restore the vintage look, he
said. Vintage-look cladding and trim
can also add to the sense of history
without necessarily costing too
much, he said.
Even modern touches like
illuminated message boards can be
given a sense of history with the
right design, he said, showing
illustrations from various buildings.
The main street project is part of a
long-term vision for the village.
Sparling said. The next step includes
making use of historic photographs
for murals on various blank walls
and a large time-line of the village’s
history on a prominent wall.
Sparling said BIG would offer any
help it can to assist business owners
to make improvements and urged
people to make their plans known to
encourage others to get on board. He
set a goal of 2008 to have the new.
look in place.
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
As predicted in most of Ontario’s
rural school boards. the
commencement of classes this
September revealed a slight decline
in elementary school enrolment in
the Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board.
In one case, at St. Joseph’s school
in Kingsbridge, the persistence of
the declining enrolment trend is
enough • to threaten the facility's
viability.
But at the recently-opened new
home of St. Mary’s Catholic
elementary school in Listowel, at
least for this year and perhaps into
the future, thoughts of declining
enrolment have faded.
“We’ve made the right move,”
principal John McCarroll said
earlier this week, referring to the
school's relocation from its former
home in an aging building in the
village of Hesson.
Prior to that relocation this year,
there was no Catholic elementary
school in the much larger and still
growing urban area of Listowel;
now, with the construction of the
new school on Tremaine Avenue in
Listowel’s south end, McCarroll
says, “we^ve come to a place where
the children have a shorter ride (to
Figures presented to trustees at a
regular meeting on Monday, Sept.
26 indicate a seven per cent increase
over 2004-05 — from 143 to 152.
For the most part, grade by grade,
there was little change from last
year’s enrolment. The exception is
in the junior kindergarten age group.
In September, 2004, there were just
nine JK students at the Hesson site.
A year later, there were 22 J K
registrants for the opening of classes
in the new Tremaine Avenue school.
“It’s in line with what we
expected.” explained education
director Larry Langan. “We’re much
more accessible now to Catholics in
our Listowel community.”
He added that not only is Listowel
a growing community, but by
building a new school on the
southern reaches of the town, the
board has also established a
presence in an area where new
residential subdivisions are planned
for the future.
In the north-west comer of Huron
County, meanwhile, a different story
is unfolding. And, unless the board
and a group of community members
can realize their stated goal of
’attracting more students to St.
Joseph’s Catholic elementary
school, it seems certain trustees will
soon be forced to wrestle once again
with the weighty issue of potential
moratorium on school closures. A
year later, once that moratorium
lapsed, Huron-Perth trustees again
agreed to place it under review.
That time, pressure from
community supporters convinced
the board to delay the process long
enough for a thorough search for
more students by the fall of 2006.
Opening day enrolment was just
57 this September, down by one
from 2004. Of key importance for
the future, however, is how many
new students are entering the school.
And JK attendance went from four
in September, 2004 to just one this
September.
“1 think it’s fair to say that the
school-aged population is not living
in that community,” Langan said in
an interview. “There have been no
surprises or no significant increases
in enrolment.”
Still, he reiterated the board’s
commitment to assist in a search for
more students, and said even the
preliminary results of that search
won’t be known until the
Kindergarten registration drive takes
place in November. Langan called
those registration numbers “a
critical piece for that school.”
It’s expected trustees could first
revisit the St. Joseph’s issue as early
as January, 2006.
Thanks
Brussels Optimist president-elect Kevin Deitner, left,
presents Brussels Agricultural Society president Mervyn
Bauer with a cheque for $600 as sponsorship for the
school and junior sections at the Brussels Fall Fair. (Photo
submitted)
and from school), for the most part,
and where they can feel right at
home.”
The effects of the move include,
as predicted, an increase in
enrolment.
closure.
The Kingsbridge facility was
initially placed under review over
two years ago, but that was shelved
when a newly-elected Dalton
McGuinty government placed a
1I J
HPCDSB admin offices
to get sloped walkway
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The upper storey of the Huron-
Perth Catholic District School
Board’s administrative offices in
Dublin'will be made accessible to
wheelchairs, following a decision by
trustees to move forward with the
least costly of two proposals drawn
up by the board’s architectural firm.
At a regular meeting Monday,
Sept. 26, trustees gave the go-ahead
to proceed with a proposal to build a
sloped walkway from street level to
the building, provide a power door
operator for the existing entrance,
and install a stair lift up to the
second storey. Marklevitz Architects
estimate the project will cost
between $100,000 and $125,000.
Trustees were also presented with
a more expensive “Proposal Two,”
at an estimated cost of $215,000 to
$250,000. It involved building a 220
square foot addition to the building
to house a vertical elevator that
would also provide access to the
basement.
Board staff recommended the less
cosily option.
According to education director
Larry Langan, completion of the
project will bring Huron-Perth
Catholic in compliance with the
Ontarians With Disabilities Act.
Asked if the board will be in danger
of facing the prospect of more costly
renovations to the basement if that
act eventually becomes more strict,
Langan expressed confidence that
would not happen.
“I think we’re pretty good now
with the plan to have two floors
fully accessible,” he said. “We’ve
already done work on the
washrooms to make them
accessible, and we’ll certainly be
moving a lot of our meetings onto
the board room (second) floor once
the work is done.”
With the go-ahead now in place to
take the project to tenders, work
could begin as early as the spring of
2006.
<1Hl
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Of t
y 11
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published in
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