Landing Trail Intermediate School (LTIS) may have a longer future than previously thought.
Over the past few months, Aspen View School Division has been pondering the replacement of both LTIS and Edwin Parr Composite School (EPC), most notably with a possible new school building near the Athabasca Regional Multiplex.
But last week, Alberta Infrastructure, Alberta Education and an independent engineering agency assessed the schools and presented five options, and only one calls for the elimination of LTIS.
It was previously thought that replacing LTIS was a high priority, but the engineers disagree.
ìIn the discussion, there was a tremendous amount of support for not walking away from LTIS,î Aspen View superintendent Brian LeMessurier explained. ìThe engineers donít see the concern with structural issues. They donít see the limitation of space as being a problem.î
Trustee Penny Fehr was surprised by the engineersí eagerness to keep LTIS.
ìI thought Landing Trail was one of our worst schools,î she said.
LeMessurier explained the reasoning behind the decision.
ìThey said it would be unfortunate to abandon the location (of LTIS) in the sense that it is in a tucked away valley that is very private, safe and it has adequate grounds. It lends itself to outstanding educational opportunities with the trails, and the culture of the school is very much affected by the setting of the school.î
The five options presented all include substantial modification or replacement of EPC. LeMessurier said the engineers were surprised to see EPC functioning as well as it does on a daily basis, noting that it isnít completely handicap accessible.
Option one is to ëright sizeí EPC, which LeMessurier noted has been previously examined and caused Aspen View to begin looking at the possibility of a new school.
ìWe have a rough idea of $16-20 million to modernize Edwin Parr,î LeMessurier said. ìIt is costly, and we started questioning if we should start looking at new.î
Option two consisted of EPC remaining the same, with the addition of another gymnasium.
ìThey confirmed that EPC is drastically undersized for gymnasium space,î LeMessurier explained. ìLanding Trail would become a Grade 4-6 school, EPC would claim the (Grade) 7ís and then modernize EPC.î
Moving Grade 7 students to be part of the high school made sense to many of the trustees because they would be able to participate in Career and Technology Studies (CTS).
Option three is to build a new Grade 4-12 school. ìWeíd abandon both Landing Trail and EPC,î LeMessurier said.
Option four would consider a new school at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex site. ìThen when it is ready to house (Grades) 7-12, you move everyone there and demolish Edwin Parr School, and Landing Trail closes and you use it for other purposes,î he explained.
ìOption five is a new (Grade) 7-12 school at the Multiplex and you modernize Landing Trail.î
Whispering Hills Primary School (WHPS) was also looked at.
ìWHPS has the capacity of adding on modules if the community grows. Landing Trail, you could abandon a gymnasium and build CTS labs and build a new gymnasium because the current one is undersized,î LeMessurier said. ìOr you could move the (Grade) 7ís up to EPC and move the division office and other support service into a part of LTIS. That would save $60 -70,000 a year in rent at central office.î
LeMessurier put the recommendations into context.
ìIt is not the objective from the scoping exercise to come up with a recommendation for the ministry,î he said. ìThe mandate is to come up with options that are then costed out and presented back to the board to help the board moving forward.î
LeMessurier said Aspen View has a lot of work to do.
ìThe town and the county are planning a new swimming pool, there is still discussions regarding a municipal library, and they canít stop because we have our work,î LeMessurier said. ìWe need to look at land from Athabasca University, either a lease or purchase, if we are going to proceed with a (Grade) 4-12 or a (Grade) 7-12 new school.î
ìIt all comes to a screeching halt if we need land and we canít get it.î
