August 12, 2014
Building Modern Learning Communities
Tender Awarded for Site Work at New Virginia Park Elementary
Site work has begun in preparation for the construction of a new school to replace Virginia Park Elementary following the recent award of a tender, valued at over $3.3 million, to Marco Services Ltd. of St. John’s. This is the first of two tenders expected to be issued within the year, with the second to include the construction of the building itself.
“This phase of construction includes site preparation and remediation, the establishment of foundations and footings, the assembly of structural steel, and the installation of site services such as water and sewer. I look forward to seeing the new school take shape, and for its students and teachers to be accommodated in a more modern teaching and learning environment that will serve the community for many years to come.”
- The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Education
The new building will be constructed adjacent to the existing school on Middleton Street in St. John’s. It will include 16 classrooms (extra classroom space has been added to the design to accommodate full-day Kindergarten), a special education/challenging needs room, a gymnasium and stage, a library resource centre, music room, lunch/multi-purpose room, commercial kitchen and a family resource centre, among other spaces.
Minister King noted the target date for occupancy is September 2016 – which will coincide with the first year of implementation of full-day Kindergarten.
Since 2004, over $681 million has been allocated for K-12 infrastructure, a level of investment unprecedented in the province’s history. Fourteen new schools have been constructed, eight more are in various stages of planning or construction, 27 major extensions and renovation projects have been completed, and 10 more are underway.
QUICK FACTS
- A tender valued at over $3.3 million has been awarded to Marco Services Ltd. of St. John’s to complete site work in preparation for the construction of a new school to replace Virginia Park Elementary in St. John’s.
- This is the first of two tenders expected to be issued within the next year, with the second to include the construction of the building itself.
- Virginia Park Elementary serves a K-6 population of about 185 students.
- For more information on the Department of Education’s K-12 school infrastructure program, visit //www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/repairs/index.html.
- Budget 2014: Shared Prosperity, Fair Society, Balanced Outlook provides over $128 million for educational infrastructure, continuing a historically unprecedented, systematic investment in new schools, extensions, redevelopments, renovations and repairs and maintenance. More than $681 million has been allocated for school infrastructure since 2004.
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Media contact:
Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca
2014 08 12 10:00 a.m.