Construction of the new $106.5 million New Westminster Secondary School is moving along on time and on budget, according to the school district.
Project officer Grant Lachmuth, Black Wolf Consulting Inc., and the district’s director of capital projects, Dave Crowe, were at the school board’s operations and policy planning committee meeting last week to update trustees on the replacement project.
“Contract expenditures on the project to date are approximately $23.1 million – that contract expenditure is on track with where we should be at this phase of the project,” Lachmuth said.
In the past month, crews installed new water, sewer and electrical lines as well as foundation and footing work. Construction on the east wing of the school has also begun, with the structural steel now visible. The shear wall, part of what makes the school seismically safe, and the elevator shaft have also been installed, reported Lachmuth.
“I’m pleased to advise that during the ongoing works on the foundation and footings, the earth works that we’ve done, there’s been no archeological and no environmental issues or concerns,” he said, referring to concerns about what might be buried on the site.
The current school, which opened in 1949, sits on a cemetery that was used between 1860 and 1920 as a potter’s field where bodies of the poor, prisoners, stillborn babies and mentally ill patients from Woodlands and Essondale – which later became Riverview – were buried. The land was also used by Chinese, Sikh and First Nations communities to bury their dead.
The new school is being built behind the old school, where the Mercer skatepark was. This location was chosen as part of the school district and Ministry of Education’s commitment not to build over any possible burial sites.
Once the new school is complete, the old school will be torn down at the area will be turned into a memorial park.
A big part of the project is ensuring neighbours and nearby residents are well informed about any road closures or possible disruptions, according to Lachmuth.
“We continue to update our website for the project and make sure that’s kept up to date and accurate, and we’re always available, both the contractor and ourselves, to field any questions or queries that come in from the project,” he said.
To read more go to newwestschools.ca/nwss-replacement-project and click on Construction Notices.
