Sarnia's former SCITS high school is being listed for sale on the open market.
The Lambton Kent District School Board announced Friday that it's received approval from the Ontario Ministry of Education to sell the surplus site at 275 Wellington Street.
Director of Education John Howitt said the board is very pleased to be moving on to the next stage of the process.
"The Tier 1 first priority for sale to public organizations within the region has closed. The ministry of education has given us permission to put the former SCITS out for public sale, and that process went live today and closes in 30 days."
The board declared the nearly century-old building surplus in August of 2019 after the school was closed in June of that year.
Howitt said now that the site is open to the general public to purchase at market value, he sees it as an opportunity for the facility to go back to the community.
"It's such a fabulous location as well as a facility. We really look forward to entertaining multiple offers, because we see that it can be a real jewel in south Sarnia and be raised back again to a great status."
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said there is still interest in developing a 'community hub' concept, and the prospect of part of the site being used for social housing.
"I would say the city, and I would hope the county, are willing to work with any partner that has positive thoughts and directions on the site," said Bradley. "We have not been approached by out-of-town interests, but we have been dealing with a non-profit here that is quite substantial and successful in the past. We've also been talking to some other groups that have approached us about the possibilities on the site."
Vision ’74 Inc. has publicly expressed interest in buying the property.
Bradley said there's still a possible heritage designation to consider as well.
"It hasn't been moved forward on and that is one part of what has to be discussed before we make any other actions. You can designate just portions of the building, and some of that building is fairly recent in the scheme of things as it relates to history, going back to the 1960s, but part of the building is certainly historic."
The former SCITS building is more than 175,000 square feet in size and the property is 9.2 acres.