Investor terminates suggestions to make use of school space for construction

A Toronto investor has decided to terminate from plans to make use of the John FISHER Public School playground to construct an apartment.  This came after parents of kids at the school expressed their concerns about safety issues in the process of construction with kids playing around.

KG Group which has been conferring with the Toronto District School Board to make use of some space of the school to develop an apartment which was to start in 2017 has decided withdraw its suggestions.

However parents of the school which has about 500 young children expressed their distress about the health and safety of their children when they came to know about the ongoing negotiation. They took to the median through an online petition.

Nathan Katz of KG Group told reporters that they have received all of the concerns of the parents and also what they felt about the Group’s withdrawal and they are pleased to oblige with them.

Nevertheless, the 35 storey project to be done near Yonge St. and Eglinton Avenue will go one and the Group will be speaking directly to parents about the process.

On Friday, parents received letters informing them about the Group’s decision and that another location will be selected for the project.

Although the Group has not disclosed any other information about the project, parents state that they will still probe on to discover more information.

For Stavros Rougas, a parent at the school it is going to be a lengthy process for the Group as traffic has always being an issue in the area and having to do construction with large pieces of equipment, it will add to the existing congestion.

Another parent Ian Copper described the cancelled proposal as “potentially good news.” He went on to add that it was good on the part of the Group to understand the concerns of parents.

He is also among many people who are with the option that the investor is not taking into consideration safety, noise, air quality and vibration on the school structure which has been there for a century. Furthermore, the noise will be a source of distraction to children in classrooms and playgrounds. And as parents, they will continue to pill pressure so that the project will be cancelled.

Although the constructors have offered to suspend demolition until March when kids will be on break, parents prefer it to be done in the summer.