Province to Rebuild Charlottetown School, Construct Town Hall

The Provincial Government has committed more than $7 million to build short-term classrooms onto the Charlottetown recreation centre and, in the longer term, to completely rebuild all classroom and administrative spaces at William Gillett Academy, the K-12 school in the community. When the rebuild of the school is complete, the classroom extension at the recreation centre will be converted into a new town hall.

“This has been a very complicated process, and I thank all parties for their patience and co-operation, and for coming up with a solution that addresses two needs in the community,” said the Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Education. “At the end of the day, the students of Charlottetown and surrounding area will have a safe school in which to learn and grow, and the town will have a municipal building which will serve their needs for many years to come.”

The cost of the recreation centre expansion will be shared between the Departments of Education and Municipal Affairs. The Town of Charlottetown’s contribution to the town hall will occur when the interim instructional space is re-purposed to a municipal building.

“I commend all stakeholders for coming up with a creative solution to pool resources to meet the needs of the community,” said the Honourable Kevin O’Brien, Minister of Municipal Affairs. “The construction of the interim classroom space, which will become a municipal building, meets the short-term needs of the town while allowing for its re-purposing into a town hall after the school project is completed.”

Meanwhile, Minister Jackman noted the complete replacement of all classroom and administrative spaces goes above and beyond what was recommended in an engineering assessment of the existing school. That assessment indicated the existing classroom space could be redeveloped. The Provincial Government has opted to go further – to completely rebuild the instructional space to allow for a more expeditious installation of modern building systems (e.g., electrical, plumbing) and enhanced programming areas for the approximately 50 students.

Features of the rebuilt school will include:

• All new classroom space, built with new materials, on a concrete foundation;
• A new skilled trades room/science lab;
• A new resource centre/computer room;
• A new home economics /lunch room;
• A new distance learning room;
• A new special education/challenging needs room;
• A new music room/stage, complete with new stage lighting and curtains;
• Full accessibility;
• New heating and electrical systems; and,
• A new mechanical ventilation system.

A tender will be called immediately for construction of the interim classroom space/future town hall, which is expected to be completed by the fall of this year. The longer-term rebuild of the school is anticipated to be finished by September 2014.

“We are pleased that the Provincial Government is investing in the short-term and long-term needs of the students in the Charlottetown area,” said Donald Brown, Chair of the Western School Board. “We recognize this has been a challenging process for all involved. However, working together, we will now have an enhanced learning environment and improved programming areas for students long into the future.”

Budget 2012: People and Prosperity includes $115 million for new and ongoing K-12 infrastructure, including $29 million for priority repairs and maintenance. Since 2004, over $567 million has been allocated for school infrastructure throughout the province, including new schools, extensions, redevelopments, renovations and approximately 1,700 repairs and maintenance projects.

- 30 -

Media contacts:

2012 06 22             12:05 p.m.