School District's 43 latest five-year capital plan shows the challenges of building new schools when older schools are at seismic risk or have had building envelope failures.
When it comes to capital construction, renovations, repairs and rebuilds come before new capacity, so the result is that Burke Mountain's planned Smiling Creek elementary is still on the district's five-year wish list, unsupported and unapproved by the provincial government.
"The good thing is, we have many active projects that are making our buildings safer," said Devon Ross, SD43's principal of facilities initiatives.
Indeed, the district has 11 repair and rebuild projects recently completed or underway — including the massive $50-million Centennial school replacement in central Coquitlam and several mechanical upgrades — but only one new school, Eagle Mountain middle, which opened last year, and an addition at Walton elementary, also in Coquitlam.
Meanwhile, Smiling Creek, which received zoning approval this week from Coquitlam city council, is still awaiting official provincial support and approval, and thus remains on the five-year capital plan approved Tuesday.
Ross said she made an inquiry to the province this week and learned that approval will be coming soon, although by the province's own rules, SD43 needs approval to proceed.
The hold-up in Victoria is not slowing down the project, however, as architects have already signed on to design the $18-million school and a September 2018 opening date is planned.
Another Burke Mountain project, a new middle school for 600 students, is number six on the district's capital plan and likely won't get provincial support until enrolment can justify the cost. (There remains capacity in other middle schools for Burke Mountain students.)
But Devon said the district will be updating its enrolment projections to see if the project can be moved further up the list. Meanwhile, Burke Mountain secondary has seemingly jumped the queue, having already received provincial support.
The top 10 projects on the district's capital plan are:
• Smiling Creek elementary (new);
• Moody elementary (either seismic upgrade or rebuild, depending on assessment);
• Sheffield, also on Burke Mountain (new);
• Glen elementary (addition);
• Panorama Heights elementary (addition);
• northeast Coquitlam middle school (new);
• replace board office (to make way for Centennial parking and access, building is at the end of its life cycle);
• Maple Creek middle (seismic upgrade);
• Dr. Charles Best (seismic);
• and Mary Hill elementary (seismic).
