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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
REZONE A NO-GO Well over 100 people attended Tuesday night’s public hearing for bylaw amendments that would see a parcel of land in the city’s south end rezoned to heavy industrial to accommodate a future asphalt plant. Residents voiced their concerns about noise, odour and pollution if the land is used for heavy industry. At the regular council meeting after the hearing, council decided to let the rezoning amendments die, which essentially defeats them. For the full story, pick up a copy of Tuesday’s Merritt Herald. Emily Wessel/Herald
Grad dance location to be determined School board to decide if grads can use renovated gym at MSS By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
The school board will decide next month whether the Merritt Secondary School class of 2014 can have its graduation dance at MSS. At the school board meeting on Nov. 13, School District 58 superintendent Bob Peacock told the board the parent graduation committee requested to use the MSS gymnasium for its graduation dance, but MSS principal Bill Lawrence asked that not happen given the
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amount of money it cost to upgrade the gym. The school’s gymnasium recently underwent about $800,000 in renovations, which Lawrence said he wants to protect from damage by keeping a number of student activities, including school dances, out of the gym. “It’s been really done nicely, and we now have a gym that we can really be proud of,” Lawrence told the Herald. “For me, minimizing the events that damage that floor is what I’m looking to do. Grad was an event that damaged
that whole gym in a big way.” The renovations include a resurfaced floor, electronic bleachers, new paint in the entire gym, renovated change rooms, new basketball hoops and upgraded lights. At the meeting, the school board passed a motion to have the building committee look into whether or not the grad dance should be held at the gym and report back in December with its recommendation. School trustee Richie Gage told the Herald the
building committee will be gathering input from teachers, the principal, parents and students on the issue. At the meeting, Gage suggested the graduation dance be held at the old Coquihalla Middle School gym as the district already owns the building, so the parents committee would not have to pay any additional costs to hold it there. Another option for the dance would be the Merritt Civic Centre. The board agreed to foot the bill for a non-refundable
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$500 security deposit to book the Civic Centre in the event the grad committee cannot use the gym. However, student trustee Mackenzie Finch told the board at the meeting that grads want to say goodbye to the MSS gym as they’ve made many memories there as opposed to other locations. “We’ve discovered who we are in that school,” she said. Student trustee Emily Maloney told the Herald students are willing to take precautions to ensure the gym floor is not damaged
by the grad dance, going as far as to say they’ll take off their shoes when in the gym. Co-chair of the parent graduation committee Terri-Lynn Colter said the majority of students she’s talked with at committee meetings tell her the soonto-be grads want to use their school’s gym. “It’s not about changing the facility, it’s not about the cost of the facility. To them and to everyone who is fighting for them, it’s the tradition,” Colter said.
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