'Fire halls and elementary schools go together': Nenshi signs agreement on multi-use facilities

An empty field set aside for a school might one day be home to more than just classrooms.

Under a new agreement, students could learn alongside seniors homes, recreation centres or even fire halls.

City hall and both of Calgary's school boards have agreed to build multi-use facilities on land designated for schools.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said in some cases, it makes sense to build multi-use facilities, especially in new communities.

"Students first. Schools first. But also the ability to use these sites for complimentary features like seniors housing, or community recreation facilities. I'm still trying to convince them that fire halls and elementary schools go together really, really well."

Nenshi signed a memorandum of understanding Friday, along with Catholic board chair Cheryl Low and public board Chair Joy Bowen-Eyre.

"The example I often use is a school on the bottom with something interesting on top, like seniors' housing," said Nenshi. "But it may be in other neighbourhoods. What we want to do is have joint use on the site, so the school is in one corner and the community hall or the ice rink is in the other corner."

The focus is on building complete communities, which raises a lot of questions, said Bowen-Eyre.

"What does it mean to have a complete community? And what does that community need to ensure that all members of that community are having their needs met? So if we've got extra surplus sites, what is that community missing that we could work together on?"

Nenshi says the agreement is going to be sent both the minister of municipal affairs and the minister of education.