In a major development, the Town of Jasper has conditionally and unanimously voted to allow for the construction of the new Jasper High School on the bowling green.

The vote, held at councils May 5 meeting, essentially states that the town is willing to let the Grande Yellowhead Public School Division build on the bowling green/ dog park location. However, several key provisions must first be met before the town will end negotiations on the location with the school board and allow for construction on the site.

First off, the town wants the site where the existing high school sits to be completely turned into a green space essentially making the deal a swap. While there are questions about how mature trees will be dealt with, Mayor Richard Ireland explained to school board trustee Betsy Declercq that as long as there was sod, some irrigation and fencing, along with some level of new trees and shrubs, he would be satisfied.

“It essentially has to be brought up to the same standard that exists on the land now,” said the Mayor.

Second, the Mayor stressed that so far, the school board had not been willing to clarify how a land swap would be paid for. This has to be cleared up, stressed numerous council members. 

“You just can’t expect the municipality to pay anything on this one,” said Coun. Brian Skehill. 

With the new bylaw, council has stated that turning the old high schools land back into a green space would paid for strictly by GYRD and Alberta Infrastructure. Who would pay for the cleanup of the site? What about the laying down of grass? How would the legal processes and lawyer fees that could arise be paid for? So far, the town has not received formal confirmation that GYRD is willing to pay for these projects.

“It’s the same thing as if someone told me they were going to borrow my car and then tell me later whether they’re going to pay for the gas or not,” said the Mayor. “We’ve been told ‘Don’t worry, we’ll look after it’ but this is something that really needs to be clarified and formally written out.”

“The community really needs to understand what the total costs are,” said Coun. Ralph Melnyk.

Because the town is essentially giving GYRD the bowling green to build the school on, the mayor and councillors stressed that they want to be given back land that is of equal value. It is only fair, council stressed.

Declercq told council that while she could not confirm how the other trustees would vote on this new development, she said that council’s demands were reasonable and a positive development.

“I’m sure we could come to some sort of an agreement,” she said. “But remember, we are just a public school board and don’t have loads of money. I’m not sure how we would deal with something like mature trees.”

Third, the Mayor stressed that the legal tools that any resident of Jasper can use to petition or approach Jasper National Park about a rezoning change must not be taken away from people. He rejected any notion that the project  should be fast tracked and said this project, despite the fact that it has stretched on for over a decade, has to be treated like any other rezoning process. 

“There’s really no guarantee that this is going to go through,” stressed Coun. Mike Day. “There’s lots of opportunities for this to derail.” 

Bylaws would be necessary, council would have to vote on it, and the public would be able to voice their opinion. Then there are the numerous Parks Canada routes that the public can use to dispute a land zoning change in Jasper.

Still, the new bylaw passed does tie council’s hands to some extent. Should the GYRD meet their three major points (equal swap, no cost to Jasper residents, and the proper due process) they have stated they would allow the new school to be built on the bowling green.

“We didn’t want just a school, we wanted the best school,” stressed one representative from GYRD at the meeting. She said that the bowling green, with it’s open spaces, its potential for new exciting architecture, and its beautiful location where construction could be completed with minimal distraction to the schools, was still the best place for the GYRD to achieve it’s dream school. 

Whether that dream school will become a reality still remains to be seen, but it is now one step closer to reality.