A new school construction project in Red Deer is not as far along as a government update indicates.
An update provided on Monday by Alberta Infrastructure shows construction of the Inglewood Elementary School was supposed to begin next month.
However, Red Deer Public School District officials said they haven’t even sent the project to tender yet.
“We’re in the design phase now and we see going to tender in the summer and construction starting in the fall,” said Bruce Buruma, Red Deer Public School District director of community relations.
The government and the local school board also vary on opening date for the school with the department saying the school will open in September 2016, while the board said it won’t be opened until September 2017.
Once completed, the Inglewood school, located at 99 Irving Cl., will have an initial capacity of 500 students with the capacity to expand to 600.
Cody McClintock, Red Deer Public School District associate superintendent, said construction is estimated to start between October and December.
At a Monday press conference, Infrastructure Minister Manmeet Bhullar outlined the progress of the more than 120 construction projects announced by the government since 2011.
Of the more than 200 projects that have been announced provincewide since 2011, 31 have been completed and are occupied.
Dates have been pushed back for the new Red Deer Regional Catholic District high school, St. Joseph’s. Located near 30th Avenue and 67th Street, the project is at tender status.
According to Monday’s release, construction is scheduled to start on the high school in September 2016. But prior releases from the Alberta government showed construction starting in January 2015. The completion date is unchanged, with the high school estimated to be opened in September 2017.
That high school will have an opening capacity of 900 students, with the potential to grow to 1,200.
Other area projects updated on Monday include the two schools being built in Blackfalds and the one in Sylvan Lake.
The new Blackfalds elementary school in the Wolf Creek School Division began construction in January and is expected to be occupied in September 2016.
The Blackfalds kindergarten-to-Grade 9 Red Deer Catholic Regional Division school has gone to tender, with construction estimated to start in December this year and students moving in by September 2017.
Construction on Sylvan Lake’s new public kindergarten to Grade 8 school is scheduled to start by May of this year and be occupied by September 2016. It is in the design phase.
Modernization projects at John Wilson Elementary School in Innisfail and Westpark Middle School and St. Francis of Assisi Middle School in Red Deer are on track. The Innisfail project is to start in May 2015 and be done by September 2016. The Red Deer projects are to start in December 2015 and wrap up by September 2017.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com