The site of a former elementary school will become the home now for a food truck business.
Hawkesbury council approved a proposed food truck business set up on the site of the former École Sainte-Marguerite-Bourgeois on Bon Pasteur Street.
Groupe Berthiaume Inc. applied for a temporary use bylaw dealing with zoning for the site of the former school at 82 Bon Pasteur. The land is zoned Institutional and the guidelines for that zoning class do not allow for any type of restaurant operation.
The company wants the temporary use bylaw to amend the zoning guidelines for just that property to allow its use for a food truck operation for a three-year period. A public hearing on the proposed application took place March 9 and most of the questions from council members and residents attending the hearing concerned whether adequate parking would be provided for food truck clientele and assurance that regular garbage collection and disposal would take place.
The land was the site for Sainte-Marguerite-Bourgeois until 2013 when le Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO) closed the school. The school buildings remained empty for the most part, though the CSDCEO allowed le Cercle Gascon II community theatre group to use part of a building for storage of its theatrical inventory. The Hawkesbury Fire Department and OPP also used the building for rescue practice and training scenarios. In 2022 a fire destroyed part of the premises and left the remaining building with serious water damage. The building was later demolished.
There are some long-term development proposals in process for the surrounding area of the former school site but there are no immediate plans. The proposal by Group Berthiaume Inc. is for temporary use of the land for its proposed food truck project “as a modest and low-impact commercial activity” that can “contribute to the local economy and provide a convenient amenity to nearby residents.”
Council approved the recommendation from the municipal planners and administration to approve Bylaw 7-2026 for a temporary amendment to the municipal zoning bylaw to allow a food truck operation at 82 Bon Pasteur Street.
