THUNDER BAY - A new public school that was scheduled to open for 2019 has been pushed back to 2020.
The Lakehead Public School Board said in a social media post late Tuesday afternoon that the new school, which is to replace Edgewater Park and Agnew H. Johnston Public Schools, will not open until September 2020.
Located on the field of the former Sir Winston Churchill High School, construction on the new school encountered site problems that resulted in the cost of construction increasing from $20 million to $30 million.
David Wright, superintendent of business of with the Lakehead Public School Board, said in October that the site would not support a traditional foundation, which required “significant piling into the ground.”
“The foundation work is incredibly expensive,” he said.
At that time, Wright said the school board was still working with contractors to determine a final completion date. Students were originally anticipated to be in the new school at the start of the 2019 school year.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances and the high cost of building in the north, the cost of construction has risen beyond Ministry benchmark funding,” the post states. “This has necessitated a change in the scope of construction, including the removal of square footage for the planned music room.”
In October, Wright said the Ministry of Education was notified of the original issues with the site and the Board was granted additional money to finish the project.
This year, students were moved from Agnew H. Johnston School to Edgewater Park because of space constraints.
“The space constraints continue and we will once again have to revisit this plan for the coming school year,” the Board said in the social media post. “A survey will be sent to impacted families to gather input.”
