Education centre serves the community, saves money
The HJA Brown Education Centre, located on the southwest corner of Hurontario Street and Matheson Boulevard in Mississauga, is the main office for the Peel District School Board. The education centre is the worksite for over 350 residents of Peel and surrounding municipalities. More than 1,000 students, staff and members of the community use this building every week. Community groups such as the Peel Regional Police, Peel Multicultural Council, United Way and Big Brothers use the building and its facilities without charge.
Although the building is attractive and won the Design Excellence Award from the Ontario Association of Architects, it is very efficient and cost-effective. It was built in 1984 for a total cost of $15 million, including furnishings, and is completely paid for. The fountain in front of the building is not simply decorative - it is actually an integral part of the building's air conditioning system.
Annual cost of maintaining the education centre
Although the board owns the education centre and does not have to pay rent, it does incur the usual costs associated with maintaining and operating a facility the size of the education centre. It costs approximately $959,000 annually to maintain the centre. Following is a breakdown of some of these costs:
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| Custodial staff | $451,000 | |
| Direct supplies | $22,000 | |
| Elevator maintenance | $5,000 | |
| Gas | $89,000 | |
| Hydro | $239,000 | |
| Routine maintenance | $17,000 | |
| Renewal incl. ground maintenance | $30,000 | |
| Security services | $59,000 | |
| Snowploughing/sanding | $25,000 | |
| Waste removal | $5,000 | |
| Water | $17,000 | |
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| Total | $959,000 | |
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Although the board provides space free of charge to community groups, it charges rental rates for corporate groups and collects about $15,000 annually from these groups.
The Peel board owns the HJA Brown Education Centre in full, and that is one of the ways it is able to cut costs and put more money in the classroom. Research has shown that owning and operating this building is the most cost-effective way of running a central office. For example, in today's market, office space leases for an average of $20 per square foot. The HJA Brown Education Centre is 163,122 square feet, so the cost of leasing comparable office space would cost more than $3.3 million annually, plus operating costs.
