School board sells pitch

RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

The purchase of a piece of land from the Lester B. Pearson School Board by the City of Pointe Claire is set to benefit both parties.

"We need all our soccer pitches, we can't afford to lose them," said Pointe Claire Mayor Bill McMurchie.

The city runs a soccer field on the terrain which belongs to the school board, but that is set to change when the city forks over about $ 1.5 million to acquire it.

McMurchie said the total amount of land on John Fisher Avenue encompasses a little more than the soccer field itself, and is used for sewage and maintenance pipes among other things.

Pearson chairman Marcus Tabachnick said proceeds from the sale will go largely toward paying off some of the board's debt. "The school board made a number of major investments without government support," Tabachnick said. Since 2001, several schools have seen renovations, "a lot of infrastructure work."

"We have sold several properties recently," he added.

The sale price for the land was set by the City of Pointe Claire, according to Tabachnick. He said the city's motivation, ensuring that the land remains a soccer field, was perfectly understandable to the school board.