Province provides $ 11 million to help York Memorial Collegiate expand, rebuild after fire

The county is providing $ 11 million to fund an addition to York Memorial Collegiate, the high school that was badly damaged in a fire three years ago.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce made the announcement on Monday along with Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure, the MPP for Etobicoke Center.

The addition will enable the school to add 368 spaces for a total of 1,300, which comes as it merges with George Harvey Collegiate.

The school is also under further refurbishment after the fire, paid for by the council’s insurance.

“York Memorial Collegiate Institute has been serving families for generations and we are determined to rebuild this school for the community after the devastating fire in 2019,” Lecce said in a statement. “This investment will deliver a modern school that is fully accessible, digitally connected, with modern ventilation, which will ensure that students are inspired to learn, discover and create.”

Local trustee Chris Tonks – whose father and grandfather attended the school – said the addition “will allow our students to experience the benefits of a neighborhood school that supports their diverse needs and access to a wide range of course offerings around them. to improve engagement and academic success. ”

The fire at York Memorial, which broke out near Eglinton Avenue West and Keele St. located is also the center of a lawsuit filed by the council against the city’s fire and police services.

The board claimed that respondents failed to secure the scene, leading to the “re-ignition” of an initial, smaller fire and then trying to disguise what happened.

The $ 90 million lawsuit, which was filed in Ontario’s Supreme Court of Justice last May, accuses firefighters of misleading the media and later submitting a final report intended to “mislead evidence of negligence.” to conceal and suppress. ”

The city of Toronto is mentioned in the case as it oversees Toronto fire, and the province is named on behalf of the fire department’s office.

The city later said “staff cooperated fully and professionally in investigating the fires at York Memorial Collegiate … Staff took all appropriate steps to preserve evidence, and allegations in the allegation that suggest otherwise are clearly untrue and irresponsible.”

None of the allegations in the statement of claim were proved in court.

Opened in 1929, York Memorial Collegiate was a heritage building and housed several memorials to youths who died in the First World War.

The school has since been merged with George Henry, and students are on site at Henry’s until construction at York Memorial is completed.

No one was injured in the fire, but 900 pupils and staff had to be evacuated from the school.