Quote:
Originally Posted by bizaro86
I haven't followed this that closely, but if the LRT line is already built, and Ernest Manning is still standing, why did the city need to buy it and demolish it at all? It's not the oldest or worst condition high school in the city, so why couldn't it have stayed?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bizaro86
Once the hole is covered up would there be room for the field to go back in? Because if so away games for the outdoor sports for a few years, and gym class inside (in the gym) seems like a good trade for the cost of building a new school. Could use the extra money for more teachers or something.
It doesn't really matter at this point (the new school is getting built) but I'm a bit curious. I suppose if the city gets more for the land from Condo developers than they paid for the school it might be a good deal.
Will Westbrook mall be staying, or is that land getting redeveloped as part of the TOD plan as well?
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While the Ernest Manning High School building itself could have stayed, in a technical sense, keeping it operational would have been a significant burden.
The school parcel would have had to be subdivided, the playing fields wouldn't have been able to be rebuilt - at least not without one or both of the station heads being in the middle of them, and access/egress to both the school and the station would have heavily conflicted. Basically the tunnel/station location and configuration would have had to be significantly reconfigured. Also, while the school wasn't overly old, apparently there was a lot of maintenance outstanding.
The fate of Westbrook Mall rests with its owners (and market forces of course). It is absolutely part of the approved Station Area Redevelopment Plan area though and as such, redeveloping the mall site will be an easier process whenever.
Perhaps this photo and the following rendering is the easiest way to visualize what Westbrook Station will look like at grade once completed.
On the photo, the southwestern-most end of the wide part of the tunnel is where the small station head will be, and the end closest to the cranes is where the large station head/office building will be.