The old Carl A. Nesbitt Public School building has been posted for sale on the open market, at a listing price of $2.17 million.
In the listing, it is described as a 27,510-square-foot brick building in New Sudbury, with more than 3.72 acres of land fronting Roy Avenue, Lamothe Street and Leon Avenue.
The building includes 14 classrooms, offices, resource room, storage rooms, boys and girls washrooms and a gymnasium.
The Rainbow District School Board declared the building surplus in 2023, in advance of Lasalle Elementary School opening.
Provincial legislation requires school boards to “first offer surplus property for purchase or lease to a list of public sector bodies ... before the property can be sold or leased on the open market and helps to facilitate the property remaining within the public sphere where there is a need and a financially viable proposal.”
As such, the Carl A. Nesbitt Public School’s availability on the open market indicates other public sector bodies, such as school boards and the City of Greater Sudbury, opted against purchasing it.
The opportunity to purchase has come up in council chambers several times in the past, and was a key platform point of Ward 5 candidate Robert Kirwan in the 2022 election. Although he didn’t win, Kirwan’s push was for the city to purchase surplus schools and turn them into community hubs and affordable housing.
A report on the subject was tabled in council chambers last year, and concluded that the city should “play a supportive role” by creating a policy framework that helps spur the reuse and redevelopment of public schools, but should not be directly involved.
While several schools have come up for sale during the past several years as school boards underwent revitalization projects, last year’s municipal report noted they don’t remain on the market for long and have all been sold to the private sector.
There are several local examples of local schools being repurposed to accommodate residential builds, including the old Canadian National Institute for the Blind at 303 York St. (32 bachelor and one-bedroom units), the old École St-Denis building at 347 Hyland Dr. (64-unit residential build), the former school at 291 Lourdes St. (24 residential units) and the former Pinecrest Public School at 1650 Dominion Dr. in Val Therese (19 rental units, plus townhouses).
When the Rainbow District School Board declared the old Carl A. Nesbitt Public School surplus in early 2023, they also declared the old Ernie Checkeris Public School (1570 Agincourt Ave.) surplus.
Westmount Avenue Public School, which also closed last year with the opening of the new Lasalle elementary, was not declared surplus at that time.
Sudbury.com has reached out to the Rainbow District School Board for an update on the Ernie Checkeris Public School and Westmount Avenue Public School, and as of the publication of this story were still waiting for their response.
This story will be updated in the event they respond.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
