Students to temporarily locate in south Whitby By.Trudie Zavadovies A warehouse in Whitby's in- dustrial area will soon be school for 321 separate high school stu- dents. . During a Durham separate board meeting Monday night, about 40 concerned parents from Whitby listened as trustees deci- ded where their children would attend school after unexpected construction delays in the com- pletion of the new Msgr. Pereyma Catholic Secondary School in Oshawa. Students of the new Fr. Leo J. Austin Catholic Secondary School in the Coscan subdivision -in 'Whitby, ex ected to be com- pleted by faee 1990, were to attend Pereyma until the Whitby high school was ready. Thetemporary accommoda- tion, to be used for at least a year, is in the Landshare pres- tige office complex on McEwen Dr. The boaFd as leased it for one yearaate a cost of $58,572 for the balance of 1989 while $117,144 will*be set asiJe in the 1990 budget for lease costs next year. Whitby trustee Tom Oldnan said, "I do feel a wrong injustice has taken place here. In June, we received a progress report. We are doing too little, too late. "Frankly,-I blame myself. We should have had information meetings set up with parents. Little can be done now but put it behind us." The crowd of parents groaned as Whitby trustee Catherine Tunney, board chairman, defen- ded the'board's position by main- taining, "there was no reason to notify parents." Many parents were alarmed by the lack of communication. Donna Nicholas, whose daughter will be attending Gr. 9 said, "I think it's a total rip-off. They're trying to pad everything up. It's the parents and kids who are affected." But by the end of the meeting much of the parents' anxiety had dissipated. "I'm perfectly satisfied they found accommodation in Whitby," said Nicholas on Tues- day. "I would like to see the school opening. That's why we moved into this area. I'm tired of having my kids bused." Joanne Johnston's daughter SEE PAGE 14 DAVE TENNISCO holds his 34.9-lb ing Goods, the N chinook that won the Saturday "shoo- CHOO Radio. tout" fish derby held by Gagnon Sport- Story, more photos on pg. 20 Whitby Free Press~and Two Region buildings considered Durham Region health ser- vices, social services, planning and the non-profit honlicng Convention facility proposed By Mike Johnston A plan for a $10-million ban- quet and convention facility at the northeast corner of Hwy 12 (Brock St. N.) and Taunton Rd. E. was announced at Whitby council chambers last Thursday. "This is a great day for Whitby,» said Mayor Bob Atters- ley about the application by Mike Volpe. , At approximately 100,000 sq. ft., Volpe said the one-story ban- quet hall and convention centre would be the largest of its type in Durham Region even larer than the Metro East Convention Centre in Pickering. "There is almost a desperate situation in Durham for a hall like this," said Volpe. The land is now zoned agricul- tural -and approval wil be regired to amend both Whitby's and Durham's official plans, said Attersley. He added that nine months is the shortest time span he has seen for passage of an official plan application through both levels of government. Volpe has purchased 27 acres SEE PAGE 4 department wili be . located in downtown Oshawa should regional council implement plans for a two-building concept for a new headquarters. In Whitby at an as yet un- determined location, would be the council chambers, regional chairman's office, chief adminis- trative officer's office, clerks, per- sonnel department, economic development department, regional solicitors, information systems and finance department. Faced with overcrowded facili- ties for Region staff, council last week gave approval in principle to the new Oshawa building, by a vote of 21to 3. Last year council turned down competng propsals by the City of Oshawa and Graywood Deve- lopments in .Whitby for a new site for headquarters. The Graywood proposal was for a property north of Rossland Rd., across from the existing building which is shared with the courts. With further financial informa- tion on the cost of the new building, council is expected to make a more "concrete' decision by December. Whitby councillor Tom Edwards said he felt the decision would make economic sense. Brock mayor Don Hadden described the decision as "a poli- tical compromise. "If it allows the Region to run more smoothly as a pblitical entity, then I'm in favor of it." Brock councillor John Doble said, "I like the concept of health, and social services located in Oshawa, but the main administ- ration building 1 would be in favor of having in the area it's in today. "Historically, the main build- ing has always been in Whitby, but most importantly, I always felt the location of our building was so well located for people from the outside areas (of the region).* "The idea of locating an "employment center» in down- town Oshawa or downtown any- where is a bit problematic. I'm not against going to Oshawa, but I'd like to go to the edge of Oshawa, rather than downtown." Newcastle councillor Diane Hamre could not support the new Oshawa project because of the cost involved. "It doesn't matter to me which municipality headquarters is located in. It would be good to have everybody under one roof. "But I'm not supporting this. You don't do any new building program under $5-million, and I cannot support spending millions of dollars. I see it solving nothing, except that half of our staff will be in a new building. "We hear talk of sharing with another. government .administ- ration (in the proposed Oshawa building), so it won't be any different (than the current situa- tion). We'll still have our staff split. We're going to spend mil- lions and resolve nothing. We're only doing this because we can't agree on one site." Ajax mayor Jim Witty suppor- ted the concept. - "It may not be the ultimate solution, but I think it's obvious to all of us that it's a political compromise. I am prepared to support this today, but I will have to look at dollar figures." Hadden said the dollar figures would be available by the end of 1989. Oshawa councillor Jim Pottic- ary felt the concept was the best solution to a long debated pro- blem. "This has been on the agenda, off the agenda, since 1973. I think this is a fair solution, especially since all the big guns are gone now. "Departments for the people should be located in the center of the masses, the largest com- munity. I think it's a good solu- tion. We could go another 20 years debating this. We pay $2- million in rent already." Scugog councillor Yvonne Christie said, "I am having some problem with airy-fairy figures being discussed. I have some difficulty with the number of departments for downtown Osh- awa, with the gridlock (traffic) in downtown Oshawa. "It is nowhere near the center of Durham. I could accept the fact that social services stay where they are (in Oshawa) but to have major departments loca- ted in a single facility, in the long term it's more economical. "Which land, which municipa- lity is of less importance for me. I'm pro-Whitby from a historical sense. It (current headquarters) SEE PAGE 9 lut C C t jf UA t.v.\ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ . . 1