Hill Park was the first Secondary School on the Mountain and serviced the Upper and Lower City for a number of years.  It has continued as a first rate Secondary School through five more decades right up until the present.  It has a good central location on the Mountain to provide a balanced and easily accessible Secondary School service in the future.  Hill Park also has significantly lower taxpayer costs to bring it up to an acceptable standard than Sherwood does.

Hill Park is a very valued community asset which is relied upon by thousands of local individuals and families.  The Hill Park Recreation Centre and Pool is attached to the school.  Hill Park S.S. and the Hill Park Recreation Centre share facilities on an agreed, ongoing basis.  That sharing will end with Hill Park’s closure and the Recreation Centre will have difficulty continuing some of its programs without those facilities.

Just across the park is the Sackville Hill Seniors Centre.  The Seniors Centre and its Members utilize facilities at both Hill Park S.S. and the Hill Park Recreation Centre, as community resources, on an ongoing basis.  There will be no local or easily accessible replacement for those facilities if Hill Park Secondary School is closed.

There are hundreds of signatures of Hamilton residents on the attached Petition.  There are tens of thousands of additional Hamilton residents, who have not had the opportunity to sign the Petition yet, but who support its content.  We will continue to seek them out over the months ahead.

Therefore, we are asking the School Board and the School Board Trustees to reconsider and reverse their decision to close Hill Park Secondary School.