The New Westminster school district is less than seven months away from completion of its newest school.
Construction of the replacement Richard McBride Elementary School, which is underway on the existing school site in Sapperton, is “just humming along,” according to the district’s facilities director.
Dave Crowe updated trustees at their May 11 operations committee meeting about the progress of the new building. Among recent milestones, the steel structure for the gym is now up, the roof is on and watertight, and exterior building envelope work was set to begin.
“We’re on the downward stretch now, seven months to go,” Crowe said. “Everything is going extremely smoothly.”
The former basketball court on the School Street side of the property has been excavated to make way for installation of underground services in the summer. Crowe said the court will be reinstalled in a new location at the front of the school property after the existing school is demolished.
On another positive note for the neighbourhood, Crowe told trustees the new school will come along with a new pickup and drop-off area on the school property, rather than on the surrounding streets.
“That will relieve that 20-minute chaos that happens every morning on School Street there,” he said.
The new, $34.9-million school is slated for occupancy in mid-December this year, with demolition of the old school by mid-April of 2022.
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