Division unveils plans for transport and learning hub south of Perimeter

The Louis Riel School Division has released details outlining its multimillion-dollar plan to transform its new rural property into a transportation and land-based learning hub.

Its blueprint for 3280 St. Mary’s Rd. — a nearly 8.3-acre plot south of the Perimeter Highway in St. Germain — was shared at a public open house last week.

Attendees were “on board” and supportive of outdoor education on the grounds, but some neighbours voiced concerns related to noise, fumes and privacy, said Jamie Rudnicki, secretary-treasurer and chief financial officer of the division.

“We’re listening. We’re going to make some small modifications to our plans to address some of those concerns,” Rudnicki said, noting the redevelopment team is already discussing ways to adjust berms and fencing.

The division purchased the plot, which has multiple structures on it, from a landscaping company for $3 million ahead of the 2025-26 school year.

The secretary-treasurer said the division is budgeting for it via internal borrowing over the next five years while continuing to search for cost efficiencies.

The overall project is estimated to cost up to $10 million.

Division leaders have said it’s an opportunity too good to pass up — even though the province has rejected their requests for approval to borrow external funds to develop it.

If all goes according to their plans, the acreage will become a one-stop-shop for transportation, maintenance and operations units, as well as a field trip destination.

Renderings show the multi-use site will be split in half, with the front area facing onto St. Mary’s Road dedicated to ecological restoration and other land-based learning activities. That section is slated to have an outdoor classroom, greenhouses, trails, a stormwater pond and a tall grass prairie meadow.

The back end will be a tree-lined area designated for parking and storage.

The proposal was inspired by the Seven Oaks School Division’s Ozhaawashkwaa Animikii-Bineshi Aki Onji Kinimaagae’ Inun (Blue Thunderbird Land-based Teachings Learning Centre) in West St. Paul.

“I think, once it’s realized, it’s a really great two-for-one deal of a learning-on-the-land facility and modernized school bus depot that reflects the growth of the division,” said Ryan Palmquist, a trustee representing the southernmost corner of the school division.

The redevelopment team is awaiting the City of Winnipeg’s decision on a rezoning application for educational facility status. The site is currently in the Rural Residential 5 zoning district.

The division has contracted Landmark Planning and Design, Prairie Architects and HTFC Planning and Design to work on the project.

The first phase, anticipated to begin as early as next summer, involves cleaning up the site, paving it to store school buses and creating a border to insulate it.

“It’s a great opportunity to essentially right-size and build a transportation site that is responsive to the needs of our community,” Rudnicki said.

Forty division-owned buses are stored at 901 Maginot St. — a facility administrators are planning to sell to cover some of the cost of centralizing the fleet — and First Student’s Archibald Street depot.

There are 96 routes in total, the majority of which are outsourced to First Student, transporting about 3,400 students on a daily basis.

Rudnicki said the 40 buses the school division owns cover routes in the south end so it makes sense to store them closer to the neighbourhoods they serve.

Increased demand for transportation is inevitable in the southeast quadrant given there are two new subdivisons in the works, known as Precinct J (Dawson Trail) and K (a new community south of Royalwood and Bonavista), he added.

The sale officially went through on Sept. 1 – just over 25 years after Paul Veert bought the property for his landscaping business, Veert Landscaping Inc. in St. Germain.

“They said they wanted to be a good neighbour… I took that into consideration when I sold the property,” Veert said, noting that other interested buyers wanted to operate as 24-7 contractors or trucking firms.

Following the open house on Wednesday, he said he was pleased about the proposal, especially the plans to beautify the entrance with a “park-like setting” off St. Mary’s Road.

The drop-in event drew about 20 people.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca