Diocese of London set to demolish former downtown school in 2023

The Roman Catholic Diocese of London has announced plans to demolish the former St. Peter's School on Clarence Street next year. 

For the past 17 years the building has been used as an office space and parish centre for St. Peter's Cathedral, and has also housed a number of tenants to help offset expenses.

The space was meant to be temporary but as time passed, the diocese found it wasn't feasible to build a permanent location and stayed. 

Now, it's been decided that the building no longer meets the needs of the community, as the dioceses consolidates parishes. 

"The building is old. It would require significant repairs," said Matthew Clarke, director of communications for the Diocese of London. 

"There's need for less office space and that, combined with the age of the building and the financial requirements of the parish, we're going to move to demolishing the building and then eventually possibly redeveloping the land." 

The diocese also manages the north parking lot. Future plans for the land have yet to be determined. 

"We will look at the future of a parish centre once we determine what will happen with the land around the cathedral," said Clarke. "There may be an opportunity there to put a parish centre and a Catholic education centre back on the site, depending on how we redevelop the land around the basilica." 

There are currently five tenants in the building and all were given notice to leave in late November, said Clarke. Based on the terms of their leases, they will be required to vacate the building between January and March. 

"It's very hard for me to find a place in a couple months," Tom Broome said. He's run the Canadian ESL Centre out of the building for the past 10 years.

Fellow tenant Tony Cuzzocrea, founder of nonprofit Love First International, said he expects it will take six to 12 months to find a new site. 

"It's not likely we're going to find the ideal place in that short of a time," he said. 

The diocese took possession of St. Peter's School from the Catholic District School Board in the early 2000's. It will soon be soliciting quotes for asbestos removal and demolition, and moving forward with the required approval process with the City of London.