Five years after the city sold the Orillia Central School building to developers, the building’s future remains unclear.
The city purchased Central School (26 Coldwater St.) for $476,000, taking possession of the heritage gem built in 1882, on Sept. 1, 2010.
In 2017, the city sold the building for $1,054,704 to Horizon General Contractors, the same company that, in 1988, purchased and revitalized the abandoned Tudhope Carriage factory that now houses city hall, a range of government and private-sector offices and condos.
The company, run by the Mirkopoulos family, expressed excitement at the opportunity to revitalize yet another historic Orillia building when they purchased it in 2017.
Five years later, however, the building has yet to be touched.
Built in 1882 and designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1979, the now vacant school at 26 Coldwater St. E operated until 1985, and it is now the oldest public building in Orillia with its original design.
Coun. Tim Lauer spoke against the sale at the time, and said it has been “unfortunate” to see the building remain untouched.
He said he would “love” to see the newly elected council try to move things along.
“I think it is unfortunate, but also think that you need to be patient,” Lauer said in a statement to OrilliaMatters. “The Mirkopoulos family is not likely to move ahead unless there is a strong business case. I would love to see the new council jump back in and move things along perhaps through incentives or a reacquisition.
“I don’t think these neglected heritage sites reflect well on a city that claims heritage preservation as one of their strategic goals.”
Lauer said Horizon's original plan for the building was to create a film education centre, but is unaware of any updates for the building since the sale.
He hoped for the school to become a downtown post-secondary campus, and that he has little faith in the Ontario Heritage Act, which prohibits the demolition of designated historic buildings.
“I see heritage as an asset. Central School was one of Orillia’s original schools,” Lauer said in a statement to OrilliaMatters. “I have no faith in the Ontario Heritage Act, which has no real teeth, so (I) worried that, once sold, a very important part of Orillia’s history would be permanently lost.”
He also had other ideas for the stately building.
“I felt it was a perfect fit to be a permanent post-secondary downtown campus,” Lauer said. “At the time, Lakehead was interested in expanding and I felt the city was in a good position to broker a deal, perhaps including a third private party.”
After the city received a private offer to purchase the building in 2014, Lauer chaired a committee exploring potential uses for the building. In its final report, the committee recommended the city pursue potential partnerships with Georgian College or Lakehead University.
“The process was hindered by complications arising from a Lakehead land agreement issue which we eventually resolved,” Lauer explained. “Council decided — for reasons I can’t defend — to end the process in favour of selling the property on the open market through a request for proposal.”
Despite being against the sale, Lauer said he was happy to see it sold to Horizon based on their previous work in the city.
“Despite being adamantly against the sale, I was somewhat relieved that the successful bidder was Horizon,” Lauer said. “I had worked with them when Lakehead located at Heritage Place (city hall) and found them easy to work with and that they shared a respect for heritage.”
Prior to being sold to Horizon General Contractors, the school had been purchased by the city in 2010 for $450,000 from the Simcoe County District School Board when that board declared several properties as surplus.
Horizon General Contractors did not respond to requests for comment.
Click here to read about the history of the school in downtown Orillia.
For more on the city’s original decision to purchase Central School and other local school properties, click here.
