NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia—Construction remains on target for the new $35 million Richard McBride Elementary School in New Westminster to be completed by December 2021 or January 2022.

The replacement of the 90-year-old building remains underway with work proceeding according to plan. Site preparation work is complete and general contractor Heatherbrae Builders will soon pour the concrete slab and start installing the steel structure. IBI Architectural Group is the architect on this impressive project.

“The design proposed is innovative, focused on accessibility and grounded in the natural geography of the area,” said Anita Ansari, chair of the New Westminster Board of Education, in a statement.

The replacement of Richard McBride Elementary will provide a modern school built with a capacity for 505 students—representing 65 additional student seats. The New Westminster School District is providing $1 million toward the replacement.

“Our government is working hard to give all students the best learning experience possible, and the replacement of Richard McBride Elementary is a great example of that,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education, in a statement.

“We’re replacing the school with a new, expanded and seismically safe facility that will eliminate the need for portables and provide new, much-needed childcare spaces for New Westminster families.”

To further benefit local families, the new school will also feature space for StrongStart and before and after school care programs, as well as a neighborhood learning center where additional childcare spaces will be a priority.

Full completion of the project, including landscaping and demolition of the old school, is set to take place by September 2022.

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UCLUELET, British Columbia — Construction continues on a new $44.8 million seismic school project on Vancouver Island that will improve student safety.

Crews are working on Ucluelet Elementary, a partial replacement of Ucluelet Secondary and a new Neighborhood Learning Center. With both schools located on the same site, construction is being coordinated so students can attend school while work is being done.

The project is estimated to result in more than 450 seismically safe student seats in the community.

“B.C. families want to know their children will be protected if an earthquake should occur,” said British Columbia Minister of Education Rob Fleming in a statement.

“From the start, our government has made seismic safety a priority. We’re working together with districts across the province to ensure every student can learn in a seismically safe school as fast as possible.”

The new Neighborhood Learning Center will be used for childcare programming, thereby increasing the amount of childcare spaces for Ucluelet.

Ucluelet Secondary School serves students from Ucluelet and Tofino. Four of five of the school’s blocks will be replaced, including classrooms, administration, the library and music room. These sections were built between 1947 and 1981. The gym and trades block, built in 1973, will have their seismic performance improved.

Seismic upgrades at Ucluelet Elementary School also include a new elevator to improve accessibility, as well as structural upgrades.

Unitech Construction Management is the general contractor on this project, which is slated for completion by spring 2022.  Patrick May of M3 Architecture Inc. developed the West Coast themed design concept for the school.

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BRITISH COLUMBIA, Canada—The government of British Columbia recently announced it is putting $217.7 million of annual maintenance funding to school districts across the province to increase energy efficiency in schools.

This year’s funding is more than $32 million higher than four years ago. Also included this year is an additional $12.2 million from CleanBC that will provide school districts with more resources through the province’s Carbon Neutral Capital Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This extra funding will also create operating cost savings from energy efficiencies such as adding solar panels, high efficiency boilers and LED lighting upgrades, a government release stated.

“Tackling climate change is critically important for all of us, and our school system can play a part in helping cut carbon pollution,” said B.C. Minister of Education Rob Fleming in a statement. “That’s why we’ve significantly increased maintenance funding to help districts better maintain schools, improve energy efficiency and work to provide the best possible learning environments for students,”

CleanBC is the government’s plan to reduce carbon pollution through approximately $1.3 billion in provincial funding over four years.

Said B.C. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister George Heyman in a statement, “We’re working with school districts throughout the province to create healthier learning environments for students and modeling a more secure future through energy efficient buildings and transportation options.”

In addition to new CleanBC funding the Carbon Neutral Capital Program is providing approximately $17 million to nearly 70 different energy efficient projects.

There will also be the option for school districts to purchase electric school buses through the 2020-21 Bus Acquisition Program, which provides $13 million for 31 school districts to buy 101 new buses including up to 15 electric buses. Districts that purchase electric buses will also have access to provincial funding for charging station infrastructure.

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