Considerable updating is planned for the east side of the original building according to Turtle Mountain School Division Superintendent Tim De Ruyck.
“The school has been looked at by representatives of the Public Schools Finance Board (PSFB),” he explained. “A portion of the exterior, the brickwork will be replaced and the windows as well.”
Specifically, it will be the east side of the original building. This will include replacing the bricks, all of the windows and doors and part of the roof on that side of the structure. Also, parts of the wall that wraps around to the north and south on the building will be included.
De Ruyck said it was part of the normal process the PSFB does when looking at schools and their physical health. When they did their testing, they saw some of the metal ties that connect the brick to the cinder block were starting to deteriorate. As well, the windows are getting old and need replacement. Considering the building was originally opened in 1962 – with later parts added on – it has seen little outside work over the years, this is not surprising.
“A lot of schools are like this. The brick work is original.”
Another initial part of the school that will see work is the boiler. In fact, it is due to be replaced entirely. De Ruyck said this has been a priority for the division for some time. As well as being old, it is also a steam system in which the custodians must have a certain level of certification to run. The new boiler will be more modern and efficient. Like the outside, the need was definitively there.
“Absolutely, we need to do it,” De Ruyck said. “A lot of these schools were built in the ‘60’s. It was certainly time the work got done.”
It will be paid for through PSFB and the estimate for the entire project is $4.5 million.
De Ruyck said there was a recent meeting with the PSFB, he architects and engineers. Plans must be finalized and go to tender. That process will go through the winter. The hope is they can get going in the late spring of 2018. From there, they can do much of the work while school is out in the summer, and complete in the fall.
“This is so we can minimize the disruption or mess while school is on.”
They do have some recent experience with this. Killarney School had its east side brick replaced this year. De Ruyck said there was some disruption with classes being rearranged, but overall, in part because they did not get any storms coming through when parts of the roof were open, problems were very minimal. This is the hope for Boissevain.
The superintendent feels everyone will be happy with the end result.
“This will help improve the efficiency, upgrade the outside of the building,” he said. “It will make it a more aesthetically pleasing building and a more efficient one. If it is anything like the Killarney project, it will look like a brand new school. And I expect it will.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff