Costs for upgrading several school projects in Innisfail and adding more gym space at the new Penhold School were ironed out during this week’s Chinook’s Edge School Division meeting.
The board passed a motion to contribute $447,440 from capital reserves and $825,000 from Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal to the Innisfail Schools modernization project.
The board also supported contributing $129,000 from capital reserves to support the new school in Penhold.
Allan Tarnoczi, associate superintendent of corporate services for Chinook’s Edge, said that estimated costs were already known but since then they were verified for this week’s meeting.
The Innisfail project includes building a new gym for the Innisfail Junior/Senior High School, modernizing some classrooms within the high school portion, and doing a walkway between Innisfail Middle School and John Wilson Elementary School.
This project is a partnership involving Alberta Education, Red Deer County, and the Town of Innisfail. Both the county and the town contributed the money to ensuring the gym is larger than what’s normally put in for a school.
That way, the community will be able to use it well, said Tarnoczi.
The Infrastructure Maintenance funding is a provincial grant from Alberta Education, said Tarnoczi.
The total cost of the project isn’t known. It will go out for tender in the next few weeks.
The $129,000 from reserves will go towards making the gym larger for the Grade 7 to 12 Penhold School, which will open in September 2014. The school is being added onto the town’s multiplex.
This gym will be used by the community as well, said Tarnoczi.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com