Chatham-Kent Council is breathing new life into an empty elementary school in Chatham.
The former St. Joseph Catholic School on Raleigh Street near Wellington was closed after north-side students from the St Clair Catholic District School Board were consolidated at St Angela Merici in the fall of 2020.
Now, the vacant St Joseph building will have a new purpose after council approved the rezoning to permit the redevelopment of the former school into a mixed-use commercial and residential building.
The municipality bought the property from the school board for $400,000, then sold it to Apollo Property Management for the same price in July, 2020.
The former school will be redeveloped to include 18 apartments and a child care centre.
Neighbours had concerns about parking at the property.
Council discussed having the developer submit a site plan to address those concerns, however relented when the developer said the project would be in jeopardy due to the extra costs they would incur by submitting a site plan.
Council decided to withdraw a motion to have the developer submit a site plan. The developer said they would make modifications to the parking configuration so there are no issues with a neighbouring property.
