{"id":34472,"date":"2024-04-18T16:18:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T20:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=34472"},"modified":"2024-04-25T11:23:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T15:23:09","slug":"george-street-ps-site-secured-by-town-for-parkland-redevelopment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/george-street-ps-site-secured-by-town-for-parkland-redevelopment\/","title":{"rendered":"George Street PS site secured by Town for parkland, redevelopment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

George Street Public School, and its surrounding property, have been secured by the Town of Aurora for parkland and redevelopment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Town announced the $10,722,000 million, four-acre purchase, which will be funded through the Town of Aurora\u2019s Parkland Reserves, on April 11. The latest purchase comes just months after the Town acquired a further 16-acre site in Aurora\u2019s west end, just north of the Woodhaven subdivision, for $3.23 million, funded by the same reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both purchases will go towards helping Aurora address a significant deficit in parkland to serve current and future population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Town of Aurora is taking proactive steps to address its parkland deficit, ensuring that residents have ample green spaces to enjoy as the community continues to grow,\u201d said the Town in a statement. \u201cThe Town recently purchased two properties; a 16-acre property on the west side of Yonge Street, just north of Woodhaven in December, 2023 and most recently, the Town acquired an approximately four-acre property on George Street from the York Region District School Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe combined 20 acres were purchased for $13,892,000 and funded through Parkland Reserve. Residents will soon have the opportunity to provide input into the development of park spaces in both locations, ensuring that it aligns with the needs and preferences of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to reaching parkland targets, Mayor Tom Mrakas said the purchases will both protect mature trees and foster new plantings in Aurora\u2019s natural heritage systems and greenspaces. It is also, he said, \u201ca significant step forward in our efforts to expand parkland in Aurora in a financially-responsible way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI envision this property not only as a new 2.7-acre park for Ward 2 residents but also as an opportunity for compatible development along George Street on the remaining 1 acre,\u201d said Mayor Mrakas in a statement. \u201cThis approach will enable the municipality to recoup funds, maximizing the value of taxpayers\u2019 dollars while enriching our community. Our next steps involve initiating the removal of the existing school building by Fall 2024, accompanied by a comprehensive public engagement initiative. This will include public planning meetings for zoning changes, ensuring that residents\u2019 needs and preferences are incorporated into the design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public participation, he added, will be \u201ccrucial\u201d in \u201cenhancing the neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Auroran has asked the Town what a municipal role might be in guiding development on the remaining acre, including ensuring affordable housing units for the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In regards to park uses, Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland said residents within the ward have expressed an interest in parkland use children, their pets and pickleball, a sport which is growing by leaps and bounds within the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the last four years there is a significant population of local residents in Ward 2 who are part of a dog owners group called, D.O.G., who would like to \u2018walk\u2019 to an enclosed open space to allow their pet to run around in a safe environment with fellow neighbours,\u201d she said. \u201cOur Parks and Recreation Master Plan has identified a severe deficit of pet exercise areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith pickleball coming in as the number one growing sport, this has also been a hot topic of discussion. However, we are planning to expand this at Fleury Park by at least six courts. Some like the idea of an upgraded local playground. I believe it would be beneficial to host a Ward 2 community town hall to receive public consultation to best meet the needs of the community. I look forward to reaching out to the residents and hearing their thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Street Public School served the community from 1957 until its closure in 2015, when it served students in Kindergarten through Grade 3. Upon closure, its student community was merged with Aurora Senior Public School as the rebranded Wellington Public School, which continues to serve students in Kindergarten through Grade 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its closure, the building has continued to see educational uses in various capacities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Street Public School, and its surrounding property, have been secured by the Town of Aurora for parkland and redevelopment. The Town announced the $10,722,000 million, four-acre purchase, which will be funded through the Town of Aurora\u2019s Parkland Reserves, on April 11. The latest purchase comes just months after the Town acquired a further 16-acre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8Y0","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 10:07:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}