Construction approvals for a pair of schools in Red Deer gave the city’s June building permit tally a $20-million boost and helped push the six-month total for 2013 ahead of the figure for the same period in 2012.
The city issued an $11.4-million permit for the new kindergarten-to-Grade 12 Francophone school at 4810 34th St. and another valued at $8.7 million related to the kindergarten-to-Grade 5 Catholic school at 60 Clearview Dr.
It also authorized $3.7 million worth of work on a new Shell gas bar and Tim Hortons drive-through at 62 Carleton Ave.
These permits contributed to the $33.6 million in construction approved last month. For the same period in 2012, the figure was $21.9 million.
Thanks to the new schools, permit values related to public projects reached $21 million in June, as compared with $2.7 million a year earlier.
Industrial permits added $2 million, up from $1.5 million in June 2012; commercial approvals totalled $4.7 million, down from $9.2 million; and residential projects contributed $5.9 million, as compared with $8.5 million a year earlier.
Halfway through the year, the city has issued permits for a combined $135 million in construction, up from $127.5 million for the January-to-June period of 2012.
Public permits accounted for $37.5 million of the 2013 tally, up from $7.7 million in the same category last year; industrial permit values climbed to $25.2 million from $9.3 million; commercial approvals added $18.7 million, down from $40.1 million; and residential projects accounted for $53.6 million, down from $70.4 million.