The St. Clair Catholic District School Board is taking another swing at a new high school to replace Ursuline College in Chatham (UCC).
The board's Associate Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer Amy Janssens told CK News Today they have submitted another business case and capital funding application for the new school.
Janssens said it's the board's fifth submission to the province and hopes this time it's successful.
She said the Catholic school board has its eye on a 16 acre parcel of land on the northern edge of Chatham, adding the current school on Grand Avenue West is landlocked.
Janssens hopes to have the new UCC open by September 2028, if the Ministry of Education approves the funding for the new school.
Janssens estimates the price tag for the new high school will be $71 million, double what it was two years ago.
Janssens said the new school would be smaller, but better designed to meet the needs of students and staff with the latest technology and more green space.
"We may have less space, but you'll find in a new space that's properly designed that staff and students will actually move more efficiently. That's our hope and they're (ministry) going to help us design the space when the time comes," said Janssens.
She told CK News Today two years ago the board's application was not successful because the demand for provincial funding was too great.
Janssens said the board learns something new with each application and has refined this one to better suit the ministry's requirements.
"In this case, we really refined our cost estimate and the design that we submitted to them is a little more refined this go around than last year's application. So, every time we have submitted we do things a little bit differently based on their feed back to us," Janssens noted.
Janssens agreed it's natural some may miss the old school, but hopes the UCC school community is as excited about a new school as the board's executive.
"We assume they're excited, just as excited as we are if we were able to do this for them. And, I'm sure within Chatham-Kent, maybe there's other partners who see there's a benefit to keeping Ursuline College, the building itself, and using it for some other purpose. I'm sure somebody in Chatham may have an idea or two," Janssens said.
Janssen hopes to have a response from the ministry by Spring 2025.
The plan was presented at the Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night.