ONE Change to study new use for Lorne Middle School building

A Saint John community groupwants people in the city's old north end to tell them how Lorne Middle School should be used now that parents lost their court fight to reopen the school.

The Court of Appeal upheld the province's decision to close the school last week.

Now, ONE Change is leading the charge to make sure the building stays a vibrant part of the neighbourhood.

"The building is in an important spot in the neighbourhood. We like to refer to it as the corridor of services," said Tony Dickinson, the president of ONE Change.

"Putting services in there would be useful. Everyone looks at the building as a vital piece of infrastructure. No one wants to see another big, empty building in the neighbourhood."

The school is attached to the Nick Nicolle Community Centre, which ONE Change operates through a partnership with the City of Saint John.

Dickinson says a wellness centre might be a good fit for the three-storey building.

Local residents surveyed

However, the group wants to hear suggestions from the community before it commits to a plan to take to the provincial government.

"We don't want to go in dictating what the use of the building is going to be, because we might not get the best ideas that way," he said Tuesday on Information Morning Saint John.

The group has taken on some social work students from St. Thomas University to help lead a social impact project in the old north end.

Dickinson says those students will canvas the neighbourhood to start a formal conversation with residents.

Anyone with ideas can also contact Dickinson directlyby contacting the ONE Change office.

"We want to go with a clear plan for the province," he said.

"We want residents to tell us what they want, and then with them, we'll work on making that happen."

Earlier this year, Education Minister Serge Rousselle approvedthe decision by the Anglophone South District Education Council to close the school, along with Brown's Flat Elementary School.

In late August, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Darrell Stephenson quashed Rousselle's approval, saying the DEC consultation process had been flawed.

But the Court of Appeal called Stephenson's ruling an error.