The Ashmont school project has been a main focus of the SPERD Board Chair Heather Starosielski since it was confirmed in 2014, and the groundwork for the school is expected to get underway this week.
“Since the announcement of the Ashmont replacement school in 2014, we have been extremely busy with planning and design,” said Starosielski. “With the awarding of the contract to United Construction, we are anticipating the start of the next chapter with that being the construction phase and a new school opening date of September 2018.”
She said a sod turning date for the new school will be announced in the coming weeks.
The decision for a school to be built at Ashmont was due to a steadily expanding school body, once it became evident that the current school would not be able to handle the increasing capacity, with the age of the school ruling out a potential renovation.
With a new school opening four years after the plans for the building began, the excitement for the students and staff of Ashmont School is mounting, according to Assistant Principal Tim Yakiwchuk.
“We’re looking forward to the construction phase and being awarded a new school. There is going to be some growing pains when it comes to parking with the construction but it’s really some short-term pain for a long team gain. Having entirely new facilities for our students and staff is very exciting, I’ve been involved with some of the planning and it’s been very interesting and I’ve learned a lot. Now that we are this close to a sod-turning, it is starting to sink in.”
“With any construction there can be challenges, weather being the most arduous one,” said Starosielski, noting the school yard will be constrained as well during the construction. “The staff and students will also have to adjust to ongoing construction and have ingenuity and patience during this time of change.”
The new school will house both the elementary and secondary schools just as the current building does, but will have a much larger capacity, to anticipate expanding enrollment.
“The reward of a new school at the end will be well worth any struggles and so far, we have been fortunate to be on schedule throughout the design, planning and awarding of the contract,” said Starosielski.
