The Gas City Kiwanis Centre, formerly the Elizabeth Street School, is one of three properties that the city's land department will seek to sell this summer, according to a marketing plan presented to city council on Monday night. The building, on 11th Street in the South Flats has housed non-profit groups and clubs since 1985. -- NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The operators of the Kiwanis Centre signed a new two-year-lease last week with the City of Medicine Hat, about one year after the municipal land department announced it would like to sell the historic school for private redevelopment.
The former Elizabeth Street School has been home to community and non-profit groups since the mid-1980s
Last July it was among a batch of properties brought forward by Invest Medicine Hat officials to be offered for sale as part of a cost-cutting exercise and effort to stoke development activity by disposing of surplus municipal land.
That led to a call for consultations from the Friends of the Kiwanis Centre Society, the group comprised by tenants, and the action on the specific property was paused until last fall.
After no other public announcements, officials confirmed to the News on Monday that a lease was signed last week.
“The city has postponed any potential sale until the end of 2022, and we’re very happy with that,” said Ron Pennington, the head of the managing society. “The goal now is to expand the footprint of the centre in the community.”
Last summer, Pennington and others said they hoped to increase short-term rentals, long-term tenancy and the presence of the centre among community groups looking for space.
Pennington said that even with uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and group activities, the centre has two long-term renters in place, a dance club and a self-defence group. He says he’s encouraged that more community organizations and non-profit entities will seek space this summer and fall to improve the operations.
The building, on the 800 Block of 11th Street in the south Flats, was operated by the city as a day care from 1976 on, then leased to non-profit groups since the mid-1980s.
Last July, the land department suggested it could be marketed as a potential commercial redevelopment, but city councillors separated it for further discussions and meetings with the operating society. It was to return to council for a decision on Oct. 5, 2020, but didn’t appear on that agenda.
Two other properties were brought up in the same batch were listed for sale, including land owned by the city that housed the Scouts Canada Hall on Cuyler Road. That deal involved the city buying the building for $1 but assume demolition liabilities toward reselling the 1.7 acre lot. It was conditionally sold in March to a condo developer, New Rock, for $415,000, much less than the appraised $670,000, for a 40-plus unit townhouse development. The building was included in the sale that is considered “as is, where is.”
The third property from the July 2020 listing is a multi-family site on First Street, S.W., near the TransCanada Highway intersection. That land, once considered necessary for service road interchange, is still on the market.
