BARRHEAD - Community organizations hoping to share space with a new Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) will be out of luck.
Pembina Hills School Division board chair Judy Lefebvre asked facilities director Tracy Tyreman during the Oct. 25 trustee meeting if any community organizations had come forward asking whether they could partner with the school division and share space with the high school when the province completes a significant modernization and rightsizing project for the school.
Tyreman was at the meeting to update trustees on all the maintenance and capital projects the division completed over the summer in preparation for the start of the school year.
Supt. Michael Borgfjord replied, unfortunately, no.
He said administration had several discussions with the Town of Barrhead, Barrhead and District Family Community Services (FCSS), and Children's World Child Care Society about potentially sharing the space the school would not use.
"The cost is pretty exorbitant for them because they would have to use the older parts of the building," he said. "Even if we gave them the space, they would have to bring their space up to code; it would be very pricey."
Tyreman agreed, saying the problem is that the old section would be attached to the newly modernized building, and the organizations would need to meet the current provincial building standards.
In November 2022, Town of Barrhead councillors, after denying a request from Children's World Childcare Society to rezone a property in Barrhead's industrial area that would have allowed them to expand their operation, said they would start discussions with the school division about potentially allowing the childcare society and other community organizations to share the space.
Complications of rightsizing a school
Tyreman said the process of modernizing and rightsizing a school, in many ways, is more complicated than a new build.
"For a new school, you pick a design, tell the [architects] what you want. Then Alberta Infrastructure tells you what you are going to get, and then you move in," he said, using the example of Neerlandia Public Christian School in 2015. "When they completed the new school, they just moved in. It was so easy."
In the case of modernization and rightsizing, he said, they need to integrate the work that has already been completed with the new design, noting that recently, the school division replaced the school's roof and the boiler system.
"We have to go through every square inch of that school and decide what we will leave and replace simultaneously as we are rightsizing to the tune of about 30 per cent," Tyreman said.
Project history and where it stands now
On March 1, the province announced that the BCHS modernization and rightsizing project for Pembina Hills received approval for design funding as part of a list of 58 education-related capital projects within Budget 2023.
In mid-June, all the stakeholders, including Pembina Hills, Alberta Education and Alberta Infrastructure, held their initial meeting. About a month later, Alberta Infrastructure and Alberta Education toured the school with Pembina Hills to better understand the scope of work needed.
In late September, the province awarded the contract to design the new $29 million BCHS renovation to Workun Garrick Partnership Architecture And Interior Design Inc.
Tyreman said they estimate the design will take about a year and a half, and the construction phase will begin shortly after.
He added that the process could take up to four years.
"But so far, we are looking pretty good, and we might be able to speed everything up," he said.
East Ward 3 trustee David Truckey asked if the project was inflation-protected and what would happen if it came in above what was initially slated for. Lefebvre also voiced a concern and asked if the division would have to tap into its reserves if the project exceeded the $29 million.
Tyreman said he believed it would not come to that.
"There are some areas of the school that we don't have to touch, and everyone's goal is to live within [the $29 million]," he said.
However, Borgfjord said if the project did come in above that amount, the province would be on the hook for it as they were supplying the funding.
Secretary-treasurer Heather Nanninga agreed, saying currently, the province has OKed design funding and that the next step would be to get the construction budget approved.
"Of course, anything could happen. If the economy changes drastically, the government could change its tune," Borgfjord said. "But everyone on the committee, including Alberta Infrastructure, is proceeding like it is going to be approved, and the chances are highly probable, at this stage, that it will be approved."
