U-Haul withdraws bid for former Moncton High building

U-Haul says it won't be pursuing the formerMoncton High School buildingas a location for a storage facility.

"U-Haul has withdrawn from its bid on the oldMonctonHigh School site but still wishes to pursue other options to grow our business and capital investment in Moncton," wrote U-Haul spokesman Jeff Lockridge in a statement to CBC News.

Lockridge did not mention where the new site of the storage facility will be and would not comment on why they were withdrawing the bid.

• U-Haul makes pitch for former MonctonHigh building

U-Haul had expressed interest in the old high school building on the corner of Mountain Road and Church Streetin March2016.

MLA Chris Collins didn't approve of that prospect as he feltthe building would be of better use as a community centre.

Collins said U-Haul is a great company and he hopes they find another location in Moncton,but that the decision does not change much for the high school building.

"I don't think it makes the transition any easier, I think right now the stumbling block is the city council," said Collins.

"I'm hopeful that the newly elected Moncton council will be forward-thinking,and see the value and support to moving of the library to the old MHS building, and that would be the catalyst for developing the old MHS building into something that the entire city can be proud of."

MH Renaissance Inc. is proposing to turn the former school into a cultural centre. The proposal includes moving the Moncton Public Library into the building as an anchor tenant.

• Moncton delays vote on turning old high school into cultural centre

City councilwas to vote on the proposal in March, but delayed the vote to get more information on the proposal

John Staples has been a long time advocate for the community centre plan for MHS. He approved of U-Haul's decision.

"I think it's a good one because the U-Haul, we don't discourage them from Moncton, but they should be in a non-residential area. The people that live in that area don't want a storage company in the middle of their area."