Education Minister Peter Fassbender acknowledged he was giving Strathcona parents a great Christmas gift Dec. 17 when he announced a $25.6-million seismic upgrade for the 122-year-old elementary school.
“I was here on a tour a while ago and I need to tell the parents from the PAC group and so on I don’t know what I’m going to do without your emails and Twitter feeds encouraging me to be here today to do what I’m about to do,” he said.
The project will include a contingency fund to allow for spending of up to a total of $30 million in case the upgrades cost more than expected.
Margaret Jorgensen, Lord Strathcona’s principal of five years, told the Courier after the announcement that the community has been urging the government to fund seismic upgrades for a decade.
Fassbender said in his speech the province needed to be sure the complex project wouldn’t go over budget before it could make the announcement.
Phillip Chambers, the ministry’s regional manager and manager responsible for the seismic mitigation program, anticipates the design of the renovations will take a year. He expects the restoration and upgrades to be finished in 2017.
Three of the school’s five buildings will be upgraded. One 1972 building is not considered high risk and another built in 1922 will become surplus once the upgrade is completed.
Strathcona serves 580 students. Vancouver School Board facilities planner Anne Lee says Strathcona could accommodate 850.
The seismically upgraded school will house up to 510 students, including 60 kindergarten students and 450 grades one to seven students.
“We’re going to be only upgrading the buildings that fit what our projected need is for that community,” Lee said.
“Because you can imagine we’re doing three buildings and it’s $30 million, if we were looking at trying to upgrade the additional building that we really don’t need, you can imagine the dollar figures are going to go up even higher.”
David Nelson, VSB’s district principal for field services, said “if all goes well” construction on Strathcona would start before construction on a new elementary school at International Village.
Once the new school near Expo Boulevard and Abbott Street opens, Strathcona’s catchment area will shrink.
The three historic buildings will be upgraded one by one and students will be relocated to classes in the two buildings where work isn’t happening.
One of the school buildings is listed as being of primary significance and three buildings as secondary significance on the city’s heritage register. Strathcona is one of the oldest continuously operating schools in B.C.
The upgraded Strathcona will also include space for a neighbourhood learning centre and area residents through an expanded partnership with the Strathcona Community Centre.
The centre will feature a larger music room, youth and family counselling, an enhanced library for French immersion, a performance space, out-of-school care and a learning exchange centre.
