Site plans for St. Clair Secondary School could include an auditorium to replicate the existing one at Sarnia Collegiate Institute & Technical School (SCITS).
The Lambton Kent District School Board is recommending that features, unique to SCITS, be incorporated at St. Clair if consolidation of the two schools is approved this spring.
Superintendent of Education Gary Girardi says the auditorium is well used in the community and they would want something similar at the new site if the city's oldest high school is closed.
"A breakdown of its uses is listed within the school profile," says Girardi. "Our hope is to bring some of the use and facilities into a new consolidated building at St. Clair, if our proposal to the ministry is accepted."
During a November 2015 meeting, board trustees were told the building, built in 1922, is in rough shape and faces heavy maintenance costs to operate in the future.
The school board estimates consolidation will save $1.1-million beginning in 2017. A $12.2-million upgrade is recommended at St. Clair including improved HVAC and electrical systems, exterior rehabilitation and interior renewal. A final decision is not expected until April after completion of an accommodation review. An initial meeting was held Wednesday night. The projected student enrollment at a consolidated St. Clair would be 1,108.
