St. Paul Education School Division reaches out to Town of St. Paul for Outdoor Recreational Development

The St. Paul Education School Division has reached out to the Town of St. Paul administration following their latest board meeting about the possibility of a recreational partnership on a piece of property owned by the division along 50 Avenue.

The address of the property is 4630-50 avenue and is better known as the former OTJ building and site of the historical outdoor skating rinks.
Steven Jeffery is the Chief Administrative Officer in the Town of St. Paul.

“Administration has expressed an interest in the partnership and has recently taken the proposition to the Town of St. Paul Parks and Recreation Board for their review and comment,” CAO Jeffery told Council in the recent meeting. “In a unanimous decision, the Board Members made a motion for the Town CAO, to continue this conversation with Town Council at the next regularly scheduled meeting and
felt that ultimately this could be a great location for any recreational development that could benefit the Town users as well as the schools.”

“No costs are anticipated at this time for this partnership,” CAO Jeffery said. “Discussions between the Town and St. Paul Education would be the first step in seeing what the potentials are and if in fact, this area could serve as a mutual benefit for both parties.”

Maureen Miller is the Mayor of the Town of St. Paul.

“It’s an exciting opportunity,” Mayor Miller told Lakeland Connect in an exclusive interview. “Most of our community are very familiar with the outdoor arena that was started by our forefathers. It’s on the grounds of St. Paul Education, the division contacted us to see if we could get into another joint venture.”

The Mayor says, “I’m really looking forward to the conversation, the possibilities would be beneficial to both St. Paul Education as well as our town, so that’ll be exciting.”

The Mayor told Lakeland Connect she is always open to conversation about ways to promote recreation to youth and adults in the Town of St. Paul.

“I know that there’s been a lot of people wanting to reengage that outdoor arena especially since our communities really want outdoor activities, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be just winter,” Mayor Miller told Lakeland Connect. “So it will be open to a conversation that I think all of us are excited to answer.”

Lakeland Connect reached out to Heather Starosielski Board Chair from St. Paul Education Regional Division No. 1 to find out what the plan is, we are waiting to hear back.