Kamloops looking at options for the former Stuart Wood school

The City of Kamloops is still looking to find the right tenant to take over the operations of the former Stuart Wood elementary school.

The school has been standing empty since the school district moved out of the building at the end of the 2015/2016 school year.

The challenge the city has been facing is that the building was given to the City of Kamloops by the province on the condition that it be used for school purposes.

Definitions need to be expanded

Transportation Minister and Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone has been working with the rest ofthe provincial government to change the language of that title to allow the use of the site to be expanded.

"What we've done is we've rolled up our sleeves here with legal counsel within the Ministry of the Attorney General to see if there isn't some way to somewhat expand the definition of school purposes to be more broadly interpreted as educational purposes," said Stone.

If that change can be made, then the building could be occupied by groups like the Big Little Science Centre or the Kamloops Museum and Archives.

"The structure of it, it's perfect," said museum supervisor Julia Cyr."There's a great deal of high ceilings and a lot of possibility that we can work with."

Cyr said the classrooms would provide good options for expanded exhibitions. She sees the potential for more educational programming, public art and community activities.

• End of era for Stuart Wood Elementary
• Stuart Wood students and staff make plans to mark end of an era

Byron McCorkell from the city's Parks, Recreation and Culture department agreed that the museum would be a strong tenant.

"It has an education component.It has an archival component, a research component. It is central to a community, so that lends itself to that converstation."

Decision expected soon

There are still a lot of renovations that would need to be done to get the building up to the current building code and meet accessibility requirements, but McCorkell said less work would need to be done if the museum was to move into the old school.

"We don't see the building needing to be gutted out or anything like that.It actually presents very well for a museum because of the classroom makeup," he said. "We could make it work."

The province needs to decide whether the conditions of the land will be clarified to allow for educational use.

MLA Todd Stone says that decision is expected in the coming months.

Kamloopscity council will still need to decide what interested tenant would be a good fit for the site.

With files from CBC Radio One's Jennifer Chrumka.

For more stories about the Kamloopsarea, check out the Daybreak Kamloops' Facebook page.

To hear the full story, click the audio labelled:Kamloops looking at options for the former Stuart Wood school