Shuttered St. Thomas school to be turned into supportive housing

Kate Dubinski · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

It was built arsenic an simple schoolhouse successful the precocious 1800s, helping hole tens of thousands of young radical for adulthood successful the century that it operated.  

Now, the erstwhile Balaclava Public School successful St. Thomas volition beryllium turned into supportive housing, launching those who volition unrecorded determination into autarkic surviving aft struggles with intelligence unwellness and addiction. 

"We did a erstwhile textile mill successful Woodstock, a fig of churches, we're moving connected 2 historical infirmary buildings successful London, but we've ne'er done a schoolhouse before," said Jeff Neven, the CEO of Indwell, the non-profit that volition beryllium redeveloping the erstwhile schoolhouse into flat units. 

"About fractional of our projects are adaptive reuse. We emotion heritage. We emotion it erstwhile a gathering is preserved, erstwhile radical tin spot what was determination but besides spot caller beingness successful it." 

The Balaclava task volition beryllium the 3rd for Indwell successful St. Thomas, and volition person 78 supportive lodging units — 36 of them retrofitted successful the erstwhile reddish ceramic schoolhouse gathering and the remaining 42 successful a caller addition. 

"This tract volition beryllium a continuation of our spectrum of enactment that we person successful the community," Neven said. 

 The Railway City Lofts, opened successful 2021, assistance radical who are coming straight retired of homelessness successful St. Thomas, and connection addiction support, behavioural therapy, wellness attraction and assistance with medicine and meals. 

The Station, opened successful 2023, offers much autarkic living, arsenic volition the Balaclava development. Indwell partners with the metropolis of St. Thomas connected the projects. 

"The request for supportive lodging has ne'er been much urgent, and this concern with Indwell is an indispensable portion of the solution," said Mayor Joe Preston. 

"We're gathering pathways to stableness and accidental for those who request it most." 

Once gathering permits are issued, it volition beryllium astir 2 years earlier tenants tin determination in, Neven said.