Supporters of Laurentian green space continue to fight possible sale of lands

Advocates hopeLaurentian University will not consider selling its green space, as the insolvent school continues to restructure.

Reports on a real estate review of Laurentian University are expected to be finalized by the end of this month.

Laurentian's administration is looking to save money to help pay off its creditors, as part of restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

The review is considering strategies to lease, consolidate and monetize its assets.

Franco Mariotti is a graduate of Laurentian. He's now retired as a staff scientistat Science North in Sudbury and is a member of The Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury, a group advocating for Laurentian to keep the green space.

Mariotti said the space is easily accessible for a lot of people in Sudbury either by transit, bike or vehicle.

"The students who come to Laurentian, the thousands of them, this is literally in their backyard," he said.

"I think what we've all learned from COVID is how important natural areas are to our mental and physical well being. This is so important to not only the campus folks who live here, but the entire Sudbury community."

Another important feature is a young forest, in particular, Sudbury's regreening efforts.

"It's hard to believe when I was a student here, this was all black rocks," he said.

"It was a moonscape. We were the butt of stand-up comedians across the country, the city that looked like the moon."

Mariotti said he fears losing a community greenspace in the city. He said if the property is sold, it could undo years of efforts of regreening.

"There are heavy metals in these soils that the trees we now know lock into the soil," he said.

"The reason why the health of the lakes has returned is because of these trees here. Any kind of development in this space would impact the water quality."

Mariotti said what happened at Laurentian was "tragic."

"I've had friends who have lost their jobs overnight because of what has happened. That has been terrible enough," he said.

"But then to impact the community in search of a financial answer? This is not the answer to solving the university's problems."

In its latest court update, the university administration said no decisions have been made.

It will present the final recommendations to the Board of Governors for consideration. Once it gets input from the board, it will consult its economic stakeholders.