There may be some hope on the horizon for the delayed New Westminster Secondary School construction project – but it’s still too early to know when the new high school will be move-in ready.
Grant Lachmuth, chief project officer for the NWSS project, provided an update to school trustees at their May 12 operations committee meeting. He noted that, as previously announced by the district, the new high school won’t be ready by this September as scheduled.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the schedule of the project,” he said.
There were two main pandemic-related challenges, he said: worker numbers and interruptions to material supply chains.
“In December and January, we had approximately 250 trades workers on the site; as the onset of the pandemic impacted the project, that worker level dropped to approximately 150,” he said. “It has trended upwards to about 175 workers right now, but this is subject to fluctuation both on a daily and weekly basis.”
Lachmuth said the general trend, as far as workforce numbers, is a positive one.
“We are aware that things are beginning to open up again in the province, and that may provide more workers back and available to the project,” he said.
Lachmuth noted the other major impact from COVID-19 was the “significant interruption” to material supply chains.
“This has impacted a lot of the manufacturing plants that were providing materials to the project, both from Asia and also from within Canada and British Columbia,” he said. “Those impacts to the supply chain have been relaxing somewhat over the last several weeks, which is a positive trend, but we have had significant delays in materials to the contractor to allow them to go forward and proceed with the construction of the school.”
He said the district is in communication with Graham Construction on an almost daily basis, and they’re working with the construction company to determine what specific impacts the supply chain and work-force challenges will have on the construction schedule.
So far, Lachmuth said, there is no specific schedule set, but he told trustees that once that’s known, the information will be provided to the board and the public.
On the positive side, he noted, construction on the project is proceeding on many fronts.
Sidewalks and concrete curbing between the Massey Theatre and Moody Park Arena have been finished, and roadworks have been done in the laneway and service roads around the school. Interior drywall has been progressing “very well” on all floors, and exterior boarding has been completed around the theatre area and is moving towards the gym. Window installation is also “very close” to being completed on all floors.
Looking into the rest of May and early June, Lachmuth noted, they’re preparing for the installation of a pedestrian-activated signal and crosswalk on Sixth Street to enhance safe access to the new school.
He also pointed out that outdoor works like paving and landscaping have suffered “minimal impact,” since workers have been able to easily keep safe physical distance and the weather has been generally cooperative.
On the whole, Lachmuth noted, a great deal of progress has been made on the project.
“We are progressing with construction,” he said. “Construction has slowed, but it has not stopped, and that is the good news.”
