HUDSON BAY — The Town of Hudson Bay intends for the building that was the former Stewart Hawke School to be used to grow edible herbs and greens.
The town announced on Feb. 13 that it has signed a letter of understanding regarding the former Stewart Hawke School with Let-us-Grow Hydroponics, owned by Jan and June Nel.
The letter approved in principle the development plan submitted by Let Us Grow and initiated the necessary rezoning and subdivision of the property.
Let-us-Grow Hydroponics has been granted full access to the building and the town has agreed in due course to transfer the buildings and a portion of the property to the Nels’, subject to meeting the conditions of the agreement. These include the establishment of an artificial growing and process environment for edible herbs and greens, along with future value-added processing.
The new business will initially be focused on growing edible greens and herbs.
“We had made that determination once we did an agreement with the North East School Division (NESD), last resort we would agree to or we would have to tear that building down or demolish it, and that wasn’t the desired case,” said Glen McCaffery, mayor of Hudson Bay. “So we thought, well, we’ll take another stab if there are interested parties out there who might come up with an idea and/or a business that would utilize that building and make a viable business out of it.”
The Town of Hudson Bay had tried to find a use for the building for years before it took ownership of it. The building became property of the town in 2018, after the NESD paid the town $150,000 to take it off their hands.
Before the transfer, the NESD had budgeted $300,000 to demolish the building. The cost could have been higher if asbestos was found.
“We weren’t able to find anyone who wanted to purchase the building,” said Don Rempel, the division’s director of education in September, before the building was sold. At the time, Rempel said the town was willing to take on the search for an alternative use for it. ”And we incentivized that a little bit with some of the cost we would have incurred to demolish the building.”
The greens business was chosen from three proposals received by the town.
“We had three very good proposals that council considered, and of course Let-us-Grow Hydroponics, for us, had the perfect fit,” McCaffery said. “One, it was what we called a green project in that it was stand-alone. It did not require the use of any resources other than surrounding the building, electricity and a little bit of water. So we didn’t have to worry about a source of raw materials running out. This business can run for as long as people want to continue in that business.”
The town also considered job creation in its selection.
“Perhaps if it grows large enough it will bring more people to our community. It’s just a plus-plus type of business opportunity.”
