Council unanimously approves motion to address fire-ravaged Bloomfield School

Halifax councillors voted unanimously this week to look at the city’s options for dealing with an old school site that was recently the scene of a large fire.

The motion from District 8 Councillor Virginia Hinch, which was approved unanimously by council, asks staff to look into options and opportunities to address the “unsatisfactory situation” at the Bloomfield School site in the North End.

Earlier this month, a fire destroyed a building at the abandoned site. It took 49 firefighters to knock down the three-alarm blaze.

The former school has sat vacant since 2014 and has remained that way since the land was purchased in 2021. However, that agreement did come with an expectation that construction would begin on the site by 2026.

Hinch’s motion says a staff report should look at options for addressing the timely demolition of the remaining structures and offer an update on the HRM’s buyback rights for the property in light of this month’s fire.

In late 2023, amid safety concerns at the site, an agreement was reached between the city and owner Alex Halef of Banc Investments. The details of that agreement were never publicly disclosed.

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