LoveSong Housing

Affordable housing project awaits funding to move ahead

The former Pinecrest School in Bloomfield stands ready to be transformed into affordable housing units for seniors and a hub for the community, but is awaiting approval for funding to the tune of $14 million. Since the school was turned over to the LoveSong group by the County in 2020 for the full purchase price of $375,000, a lot of work has been done to make the building ready for the transformation. All of the interior furnishings have been removed; ceiling tiles, insulation, interior doors and floor coverings have all been recycled or disposed of. Engineering and architectural drawings are all complete, and legal issues have been taken care of. Much of the work has been done by volunteers, and in the cases where there was payment, that money was returned through donations. The exception was federal Canada Summer Jobs program, where the workers were paid a fair wage for the interior cleanup.

LoveSong received $154,000 in seed funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), divided between loan and grant, for use in the work of applying for affordable housing funding. Currently, the group has applied for $3 million from the Green and Inclusive Building program, and has a submission ready for $11 million from the CMHC. While awaiting funding to start the project, there are still bills to be paid. Property taxes, insurance, water rates, heat and hydro add up to nearly $10,000 each month. Much of the funding for this has come from community donations and local churches, as well as grants from agencies such as the Huff Family Fund and the Parrott Foundation.

Ken How and Donna Rodgers stand in the spacious gymnasium, which will be converted into a multi-use space and theatre.

Project Facilitator Ken How has had a vision for affordable housing for seniors for over 10 years. It began when he was helping seniors move out of homes they could no longer afford to keep and into rental housing. Some of the apartment units were in dreadful shape and How thought there had to be a better alternative. That alternative came into focus when the Pinecrest school was closed and declared surplus in 2017. The school board sold the school to the County, which held it until LoveSong raised enough money to purchase the 20-acre property. The project will see 25 of the former school’s classrooms turned into 50 self-contained apartment units for seniors for County residents age 65 and over.

It will be a mix of affordable units and market-value units, which LoveSong board member Donna Rodgers says is key to the viability of the project. In addition to the living spaces, there will be community-access areas as well. The gymnasium will be converted into a multi-use space and theatre. There will be a commercial kitchen and communal dining area, as well as space for medical and healthcare providers—doctors’ offices, physiotherapists, massage therapists— that will serve the entire Bloomfield and area community. “Pinecrest School was the hub of the community, and our goal is to bring that back. Bloomfield does not have a fully accessible venue for community involvement, and this one is fully accessible. Everything will all be on one floor, with a universal washroom, commercial kitchen, lots of room for art and an existing community garden. We expect to have a farmers’ market as well,” said Rodgers. “We are in close proximity to amenities in the village, and we have secured a verbal agreement from County Transit that as soon as we open our doors we are put on the transportation route.”

One of the goals for this project is to be zero-carbon. To that end, solar panels will be installed on the roof, which will reduce the carbon footprint as well as reduce energy costs for the occupants. Construction materials such as steel and concrete come with a huge carbon cost that is being avoided by using a pre-existing building. It is expected that the building will welcome its first occupants approximately one year after the start of construction. Two companies, Springdale Development and Elbee Construction, have been retained to do the work, and both have had extensive experience building affordable housing. Affordable housing has to meet more stringent criteria than for-profit housing, and is generally more expensive to build starting from an empty lot, but the re-use of the school more than offsets any increase in costs. The wide corridors and singlelevel building means that everywhere will be fully wheelchair accessible.

How says that the rapid rise in interest rates is proving to be a challenge, particularly since LoveSong does not know how much of the CMHC seed funding will be considered a loan or a grant. He adds that it is even more important now that this project goes ahead, given that the rental situation in the County has become more extreme, outpacing major cities in terms of rising cost. The latest Vital Signs Report indicates that 884 people are on a wait list for affordable housing, and while adding 50 units will help, there is an ongoing need for more. This is where Phase 2 of the LoveSong project comes in. There is room to build up to 200 more units on the property, and How says this is a project that could be used as a model for not-for-profit housing in other areas where there are disused schools lying empty and waiting for a new lease on life. For more information about the project please visit lovesonghousing.org