Banting high school relocate plan

Well past time for council to get out of the way of Banting rebuild

Posted December 2, 2024

New Tecumseth council has the opportunity tonight to do the right thing by moving forward with the working plan for the Simcoe County District School Board to rebuild Banting Memorial HIgh School on its name sake's family homestead. Sir Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin, was born there Nov. 14, 1891. Banting lived there until 1910 when he moved to Toronto to attend university, failing his first year, then decided to study medicine in 1912. Sir Frederick Banting co-discovered Insulin in 1921 and in 1923 won the Nobel Laureate, the first Canadian to win this award.

The original farmhouse was rebuilt in 1925. Banting never lived there, which does nothing to reduce the historical significance of the property which still includes original structures for the farm operation, but continue to deteriorate to the point discussions already include whether the Town can afford to save them. And it is a municipal cost because New Tecumseth has owned the property since 2008, when it was purchased for $1 million from the Ontario Historical Society. The OHS was set to sell the property to a developer whose only commitment was to save a four acre ring around the house. An all hands on deck local effort including Banting family members helped to prevent that from happening. Part of the deal was the 107 acres could not be sold for profit for a 25 year period, or the bulk of proceeds would be turned over to the OHS. That expires in 2033.

The property is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act which sets guidelines for what can happen there, but does not outright prohibit uses of a public interest. At the time there were no thoughts about using part of the property as a new school site because it was never in the conversation. But education was always in the picture - all related to diabetes and health.

Since 2015, replacing the now 75-year-old Banting high school, has been the Board's top capital priority project. Since 2016, the focus has been to build the replacement school on the homestead. In November 2021, the Ministry of Education approved $41.5 million in funding for a 1,288 pupil place replacement school. Three terms of council, including the current one, have done nothing but obstruct and endanger the project. That can change tonight if councillors grow a spine, put their sense of self importance on hold, and let the Board move forward. There will always be opposition from neighbours no matter where it's built. Many of those people don't realize they're living in new subdivisions that were also opposed at the time.

In its most recent update last month, the board laid out the following:

The existing school site was deemed not suitable due to a number of factors including:

Loss of programming and amenities for students during the construction phase;
Significant disruption to the community and neighbouring residents resulting from lengthy road closures, increased construction traffic, and parking restrictions;
Safety concerns related to accommodating over 1,500 students on an active construction site for multiple years; and
Limited flexibility for design and future growth due to the small, irregular shape of the site.

The Banting Homestead property was deemed by staff to be the best property in New Tecumseth for the following reasons:

Property size and location;
Walkable and accessible to residential areas, with fewer traffic impacts as a result of bus transportation;
Servicing capacity and immediate availability;
A unique and special opportunity to partner with municipal counterparts and enhance the Sir Frederick Banting legacy;
The ability to obtain appropriate land use designations and zoning permissions; and
Financial viability.

Sir Frederick Banting also spent time in medical school classrooms so education was an integral part of the full picture of his incredible life. It is hard, nay, impossible to imagine that he would not be in favour of the high school named in his honour, in his home town. The Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation supports the plans because it understands the wealth of opportunities that exist to bolster its mandate of protecting and enhancing the history, and program growth. There are natural cross educational possibilities that will expose students to agriculture, medicine, indigenous, health to name a few. Students can even play a major role in preservation of the threatened structures. Endless.

Stop with the faux arguments against, 70 acres and the buildings are still protected. Council needs to get out of way and let the professionals takeover. They're building a school, not a shopping plaza. Unlike the new administration centre, this building will benefit the community for decades to come.