City of Burlington to submit expression of interest to purchase Robert Bateman site

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Published June 24, 2021 at 3:44 pm

The City of Burlington will be submitting an expression of interest to purchase the surplus of the Robert Bateman High School site.

On June 23, Halton District School Board (HDSB) trustees approved a plan to relocate Gary Allan Learning Centre to Robert Bateman High School in Burlington. Additionally, they approved to declare the rest of the high school facility surplus to its needs along with circulating it for purchase to other public agencies.

As a result, the City of Burlington will be submitting an expression of interest to purchase the site.

The City of Burlington’s expression of interest will include the exploration of a partnership with Brock University. This will be done in order to offer post-secondary programming on this site.

Back in the fall of 2020, Brock University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work with the city in order to relocate programming to Burlington that is currently being offered on its Hamilton campus.

Additionally, the high school site is in alignment with Burlington’s goal to attract post-secondary education to the city. This acquisition would also help push key objectives forward that are laid out in Burlington’s 25-year strategic plan.

The city also plans to partner with other institutions in addition to exploring a relationship with Brock which will be done to ensure that there is a strategy for the site’s reuse. This includes the Burlington Library relocating its Appleby Line branch to this location in order to develop a hub for learning and education.

“Our community has made it clear just how important it is to retain the Robert Bateman High School site as a community hub, and a place of learning. That’s been a personal commitment of mine, and of this council,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward.

“Our council has also had a long-standing goal of attracting post-secondary education to Burlington. Both commitments will now be realized with the relocation of Brock University’s faculty of education to the site, along with other partners like our library moving in. The site will remain a cherished part of our community and bring additional jobs and investment to Burlington.”

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