BONNYVILLE – Local schools will be getting a facelift in the coming months.
The Lakeland Catholic School Division (LCSD) and Northern Lights Public Schools (LCSD) were both approved for capital project funding by the provincial government.
NLPS will benefit from up to $1-million for three projects in their division, while LCSD will receive $2.5-million to go toward eight projects in their schools.
When requesting funding, school divisions across the province were asked to propose projects that could be completed within six months and would put Albertans back to work.
NLPS secretary-treasurer Paula Elock told the board of trustees during their May 27 meeting their initial request was for $900,000 for jobs at Ardmore School, Cold Lake Middle School, and Bonnyville Outreach School.
“I know some divisions put in a number of requests and there were the two factors that the government is really looking at so we got topped up a little bit because they felt our requests were very modest and achievable,” she explained. “We think that they will reflect well on our division and that we can get them done within the six-month timeframe.”
Board chair Arlene Hrynyk described receiving the dollars as “great news given what’s going on and a facelift for some of the projects that we wouldn’t have normally be able to attend to.”
At Ardmore School stucco will be repaired throughout the interior of the building, and the increase in funding is allowing NLPS to complete the outdoor portion as well.
The work at Cold Lake Middle School will focus on the front of the building and improving the school’s layout to assist staff and students.
“At that school, we find that the safety and security of the students and staff is a little bit compromised because the line of sight for the entranceway isn’t located where the front office is,” Elock stated. “So we wanted to do some modifications to the building there and some renovations to improve the functionality of the building.”
The front portion of Bonnyville Outreach School will also be getting a facelift. According to Elock, NLPS has been discussing how to finance that project for a while.
“When they said we could improve our outreach facilities that we own, we thought we’ll quickly add that one in there as well.”
LCSD will be putting the $2.5-million they were approved for toward eight projects in total.
“We certainly thank the provincial government for making this funding available to us. It’s badly needed in our school division and will go a long way in making our school better learning environments for our students," said superintendent Joe Arruda.
Upgrades to fire alarms, lighting, and phone systems will happen across the district.
Notre Dame Elementary School in Bonnyville will have the exterior walls and windows upgraded, the front entrance at Dr. Bernard Brosseau School will be extended and upgraded, and there will also be some work done to the parking lot at Notre Dame High School.
In LCSD's Cold Lake schools, the boiler piping at Holy Cross School will get some needed attention and Assumption Jr./Sr. High School will have their gym floor refinished.