School loss could be turned into a gain, says one P.E.I. community

One community on P.E.I. says losing a school, as hard as it may be, can present an opportunity for economic and social gain.

St. Peter's Consolidated was closed in the last round of cuts in 2009, a loss that St. Peter's Bay community chairperson Ron MacInnisdescribed as devastating at the time.

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"It was very traumatic for the community to lose a school, to lose part of your essence as a community," he said. "That's certainly still the case here in this community, we miss having our own school."

Several communities across P.E.I. are grappling withthe possibility that local schools may close as a result of draft recommendations on how to address underutilized or overcrowdedschools in the province unveiled at the PEI Schools Branch meeting earlier this week.

MacInnis was chair when St. Peter's Consolidatedclosed, but he says the community moved on and learned to embrace their new school community in Morell.

"I think that's the attitude that you have to take to encourage your young people to become engaged in whatever school they end up attending," he said. "It's often the message from home that is taken to school, and if you keep a positive attitude on it yourcommunity still survives."

One of the ways St. Peter's Bay has survived is by converting the school into a community complex. It holds a gym, kitchen and meeting rooms that are available for rent. It's also home to library and internet stations, and houses the Red Cross.

The building is currently at capacity with several businesses renting office space, and that's been an added boost tot he local economy for the past four years.

"The jobs in the community is certainly a great plus, because even if people who work here don't all live in the community, just to have them coming in and out of the community generates business." said MacInnis

MacInnis says before the building was converted there wasn't any place for businesses to rent space.

That's something His Place Fellowship, a church that rents part of the bottom level,had trouble with before becoming one of the first tenants in the former school.

"We've really grown to realize how special it is since we've been here, because it's a rural area and because of that you're really limited as to what is available, secondly what you can afford, so this has been just a real...answer to prayer to us," said pastor Paul O'Brien.

The cost of converting the building was funded through several government agencies, and now that it is a hub of activity, MacInnis says he'sglad they did it.

"It sort of centres the community as much as the school does with its presence so we're very happy that we decided to convert it."