Former Allard School to become residential infill

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This article was published 19/06/2023 (887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former elementary school-turned-movie set is slated to become the Westwood neighbourhood’s newest condominium community.

The St. James Assiniboia-School Division has sold its 130 Allard Ave. property — the former site of Allard School — to a residential infill developer.

Kraut Development Services Ltd. won “a competitive bidding process” for the lot, the division announced in a news release Monday. The building was listed in April 2022.

“(The firm) will redevelop the site into low-density, bungalow-style condominium homes with 100 per cent on-site parking for residents and guests, and landscaping,” said the release.

Division administration indicated the proposal that has been accepted will have the old school building demolished.

Cheryl Smukowich, chairwoman of the SJASD board of trustees, called the sale a positive development that will add both value and housing options to the community while making use of “an underutilized space.”

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the two-storey building was used as a SJASD storage facility for non-essential furniture and equipment to ensure operational schools could maximize their square footage and allow for physical distancing among staff and students.

Allard School was closed in 1986 — within two decades of opening, owing to a dwindling student population.

The Winnipeg Police Academy later took over the building. It was the site of the Winnipeg Police Museum prior to its 2016 relocation to the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters in the downtown core.

The site’s unique history includes being selected as a filming location for Bring It On: Cheer or Die, a horror film released in 2022.

The movie’s plot centres on a cheerleading team that is rehearsing in an abandoned school over Halloween weekend, when an unknown killer begins targeting members of the squad.

The defunct school’s title paid tribute to the street it is located on, named in honour of missionary and priest Joachim Allard (1838-1917).

“(Allard) was the first missionary in Fort Alexander in 1876, when he set up the residential school and chapel,” according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie