The council wants to rebuild École secondaire catholique La Citadelle

Content of the article

École secondaire catholique La Citadelle Patriotes could have a very different looking citadel in the next few years.

Content of the article

Representatives with Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est Ontario (CSDCEO) earlier this month met with La Citadelle staff, the school board and others to discuss the board’s intention to apply for funding from the Ministry of Education to rebuild La Citadelle.

It’s a very early stage in the process, but also an exciting time, according to the CSDCEO director of education Lynn Racine.

“IIt is with great excitement that we (CSDCEO) will be working with the Ontario Ministry of Education to obtain new facilities for École secondaire catholique La Citadelle in Cornwall,” Racine said in an email. “Our the school board is of the opinion that La Citadelle needs modern facilities. That’s why we’re looking for new facilities that are welcoming and inclusive, safe, open to the community, comfortable, environmentally friendly, but above all, responsive to the needs of the Catholic and Francophone community in the Cornwall area.”

Content of the article

Content of the article

More details are expected to be available when the new school year begins in September. Currently, there has been no official announcement/approval for a rebuild, with only the school board taking the initial steps in applying for funds from the province. News of the developments became public knowledge when the agenda for the June board meeting was circulated. Parents/carers were informed of the news in a letter that was sent home with the students.

That letter referred to the board’s preference for the school to remain in the same location. The plans called for the construction of the new building where the sports fields are at the east end of the property. After completion and relocation, the current buildings will be demolished. These plans are not confirmed and will be subject to approval should the ministry agree to finance the reconstruction.

Content of the article

Racine said the support of everyone involved in the school will be important for the project to run and be successful.

“The support of parents and the entire school community at École secondaire catholique La Citadelle will be essential to ensure the success of such a major project,” she said. “We very much hope that we will be listened to by the Ministry of Education.”

At the beginning of last autumn, a 50th anniversary of the open house for l’École secondaire catholique La Citadelle. La Citadelle began serving French students in 1973; the school is located at the corner of McConnell Avenue and Second Street East.

Content of the article

The site reflects the history of Franco-Catholic education in our region. Originally, the buildings were the high school of St. Lawrence, the other city at that time being the Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School. In the mid to late 1960s, the public school board built George Vanier Secondary School on Cumberland Street, which now houses St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School and Sacred Heart Catholic School.

At the time, French-speaking students were educated in English-language school boards, with a French-only secondary school building coming in the early 1970s.

The construction of a new St. Lawrence at its current location on Second Street East would begin in 1973, with students moving into the building in 1974.

If the CSDCEO gets approval to rebuild La Citadelle next year, construction could begin while the Upper Canada District School Board is still waiting to finalize plans to build the new Cornwall Secondary School. UCDSB administrators were told in February that the school board had not yet secured a site in Cornwall for a $39 million project that would consolidate CCVS and St. Lawrence in a new building.

UCDSB trustees approved the consolidation and received provincial approval and funding to continue in 2017.

[email protected]

Content of the article