Coldwell Banker David Butts Realty in Sydney which is handling the sale says in its listing that the history attached to the property is “amazing” and the potential for a new owner is broad.
Holy Angels is currently the only all-girls public high school in Atlantic Canada.
The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board had been leasing the school building from the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame, which said last year that it intends to sell the property.
As a result, the lease will end June 30.
Many supporters of Holy Angels stepped forward to say it is a unique school offering an invaluable educational experience that must be saved but the provincial government has stated it doesn’t have the $750,000 to buy the school and fund the renovations required to bring it up to standard.
The Department of Education and the school board have formed a joint committee to investigate options for the school.
School board superintendent Ambrose White said Tuesday the committee is still doing its work pursuing different options and hopes to report to the school board within a week to 10 days.
“It causes anxiety and grief and I understand that. We are hoping to get some direction from the province as quickly as we can.”
– Ambrose White
“That’s the latest I got as of yesterday.”
White said the for sale sign is making people who are concerned about the future of the school anxious.
“It causes anxiety and grief and I understand that. We are hoping to get some direction from the province as quickly as we can.
“We are almost into February. We have to know and the community has to know sooner or later. It can’t go on the way it is right now.”
David Butts, who is handling the sale, said he has been asked by the owners of the property not to make any comments at this time.
He could confirm that generally, there has been interest from buyers.
The listing refers to the school, convent and land as a landmark property. The high school was built in the late 1950s and the convent in 1885 with an extension added in 1907, it says, adding the properties appear to be old but are in very good condition, have been very well maintained and could accommodate various uses.