Planning for the replacement of Mt. Baker Secondary School is proceeding apace with the issuing of a phase one report on community consultation expected by late June or early July.

Some 50 community groups have been consulted so far on the new school which is to be developed as a neighbourhood of learning centre.

“This project has to reflect the community and the ideas for it have to come from the ground up,” says Mount Baker Replacement Committee Chair Chris Johns

Johns, who’s also a Cranbrook School Trustee, says the committee has applied for a $30,000 grant from the School Community Connections Program, a funding body jointly managed by the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the B.C. School Trustees Association.

“We’re expecting to hear something back before the end of the month,” John says, adding if they get the grant part of the money will be used to hire a facilitator to conduct broad-based community forums on what the school should be.

Groups contacted so far include Interior Health, the College of the Rockies, the Cranbrook Social Planning Committee, the Key City Theatre Society and others. Cranbrook School Trustee Trina Ayling, who’s also a member of the Mount Baker Replacement Committee, says the groups met with so far are key stakeholders in the community.

“Obviously, each group has a keen interest in developing an educational and community hub in the heart of our city,” says Ayling. “We are already seeing overlaps of ideas and themes, as well as potential partnerships that could be developed with School District 5.”

It will be the facilitator’s job to table a preliminary report summarizing the consultation that has taken place with the community groups and prepare a document that can be used as a basis for phase two of the planning process, says Johns.

“The second phase of our consultations will build on the stakeholder consultations, distill ideas down to key concepts then select specific programs and facilities that could be housed within a new high school,” Johns says.

Ultimately the key factor in bringing the neighbourhood learning centre into reality will be monetary or in-kind partnerships formed with other levels of government as well as agencies and community groups, he says.

“We’re very pleased to have received support in this application from both the City of Cranbrook and MLA Bill Bennett,” says Johns. “We’ve applied for the grant under the “Consultation and Planning” funding category to assist us in the second phase of our planning process on the Neighbourhoods of Learning initiative. We expect this next phase of consultation to begin in the fall.”

The earliest construction of the $50 million project could be expected to begin would be the fall of 2011 and completion could take three years, says Johns. But in the meantime, everyone seems to be positive about a new neighbourhood of learning centre to replace Baker, he says.

“The committee’s mood on this is positive and so is the mood in the community. This is a great initiative for the community and it’s time to make it happen so we can have something sustainable for the next 40 or 50 years,” says Johns.