Barbara A. Martindale- For What It's Worth June 18, 2013
It was a long time coming. Yes, the 1924 Caledonia high school was doomed, and in 1990, plans for a brand new school were top of mind for the Haldimand Board of Education.
Thus, touted as the new Caledonia high school near the end of 1990, the Haldimand Board of Education reviewed Woodstock's Architect Leonard and Lance Dickson's model of what would be later named McKinnon Park Secondary School.
The visual representation was based on a sketch drawing, which had gone to the Ministry of Education for approval.
For members of the Haldimand Board of Education, previous years had been spent meeting frequently with the architects to come up with facilities to be included within the building and the exterior design. Finally, the model was ready for presentation at the November 1990 meeting.
Considered within that model was a large library resource centre with study and work spaces, a cafetorium with stage and seating for 600 with potential expansion to 800, a full double gym with a very large exercise room on the second floor, modern change rooms, a music room, a theatre arts work area, science complex with full greenhouse, business area for computer instruction services, classrooms for all academic subjects, new designed work areas for staff. The model also considered design technology complex to include a drafting machine, plastics, graphics, photography, desktop publishing, large art studio and a child care complex to accommodate 50 children. The special feature of a Leisure-Plex recreation centre and pool had been proposed by the Town of Haldimand.
All the features of the model are basically what we know to be McKinnon
Park Secondary School today, except the recreation centre and pool, which was meant to provide recreation facilities to be shared by school and community to make the whole facility a centre of community activity. This feature was turned down by the Town of Haldimand council of the day - a huge disappointment for many.
There were many fond memories expressed via this newspaper from former students of Caledonia high school from 1924 to 1992 before the closing ceremony on May 29, 1992 that included walkabout tours and a memorabilia auction. As one person put it: "It is with a certain amount of sadness that we see this building move from a secondary school to an elementary one, but we are pleased that it will continue to be used for the education of our town's youth." Of course, 21 years later, River Heights is as memorable for its students as Caledonia High School was to its students many years earlier.
Today's Caledonia and area has so many secondary school age students that numerous outside portable classrooms are part of McKinnon Park Secondary School. But that too doesn't take away the feeling of most that "the best years of their lives" were spent at their proud MPSS alma mater.
