EVANSTON - The building that once housed a school in this western Richmond County community could soon play a part in attracting new physicians to the Strait Area.

Richmond Municipal Council has authorized municipal staff to investigate the potential costs of refurbishing the former West Richmond Education Centre site, also known for many years as Walter Fougere School. The building ceased to hold classes in 2013 following a vote on the issue by the now-defunct Strait Regional School Board, and the building immediately became the property of the Municipality of the County of Richmond. 

According to Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette, the Cape Breton South: Recruiting For Health (CBS: RCH) committee has expressed an interest in using the former school building, located only a few kilometres from the Strait-Richmond Hospital in Evanston, as part of a package to convince new physicians to set up shop in the region.

"When the school was handed over to the county, there were some reports done and some assessments done of the building and the grounds and the interior," recalled Richmond Chief Administration Officer (CAO) Don Marchand.

"It would be wise to get someone to go in there and evaluate it, but there might be a cost associated with getting it ready for people to go in it. We all know that there have been some issues there, with windows broken and no heat getting into the building, and we all know what happens when there's no heat going into a building."

The concept of a renewed focus on the one-time Evanston school building was a great relief to District One councillor Shawn Samson, who has often pointed to the facility as a prime example of Richmond County's neglect of its aging infrastructure. As a matter of fact, Samson noted that the page from the county's most recent strategic planning document that focuses on this issue includes a picture of the former West Richmond Education Centre.