WESTLOCK - Pembina Hills School Division trustees passed a motion at their Sept. 22 meeting approving the transfer of $650,000 from reserves to construct a new gymnasium for Busby School, which has increased in price from the original estimate of $1.5 million to $2.25 million.
Back in April, director of facilities Tracy Tyreman came to the board with a plan to replace the old gymnasium at Busby School, which is only 188 square metres in size — a more modern school gym would be around 450-square metres.
Tyreman said he came up with a plan based on the new gym built for Rich Valley School in the Northern Gateway School Division, which was roughly the same size and type of gym needed for Busby.
A vestibule would serve as a link between the new gym and the school, which would allow the school to be locked down on weekends, but let the public access it.
The project was estimated to cost around $1.5 million, which could be covered with a combined $1.6 million from the division’s CMR (Capital Maintenance & Renewal) and IMR (Infrastructure, Maintenance & Renewal) grants.
At the Sept. 22 meeting, Tyreman said he had gotten approval from Alberta Education to use the CMR and IMR funds for the new gym, so the project went to tender.
So why the difference between the original projection and the current price tag? There were added costs relating to Busby School having a different foundation than Rich Valley, as well as the Busby gym utilizing a different roofing product and a different type of flooring.
Tyreman also suggested that they decided to use concrete slab walls versus the metal walls utilized for Rich Valley’s gym; the latter would be cheaper but would also require a lot more time to complete.
As well, Tyreman said they determined that they needed to put in a concrete block firewall and increase the size of the linking vestibule to prevent the build-up of snow.
It’s no secret that construction costs are a major factor influencing Canada’s current housing shortage; Tyreman said he knew of some people who were putting off building their new homes due to the rising price of labour and materials.
That said, Tyreman didn’t believe that waiting was an option in this case. While speaking with his contact at Alberta Education, Tyreman said she felt they might lose access to the CMR and/or IMR funding for the project if it doesn’t break ground by March 31.
Plus, there’s always the risk that labour and material costs could simply keep rising.
“We could wait and see what happens, but then we could get shut down by the province and prices could continue to skyrocket,” said Tyreman. “I think if we don’t do it now, this little school may never see this gym.”
Noting that the project was getting “quite pricey,” trustee Wendy Scinski asked what were the chances of the construction costing more than the now-projected $2.25 million price tag.
Tyreman said they could lock in some of the costs, such as ordering the pre-cast slab walls for the gymnasium today. He also believed he could shave off some of the electrical and roofing costs to build up a small contingency.
Trustee Kerry McElroy asked if there would not be sound issues — in other words, echoing — from building the gymnasium with concrete. Tyreman said they could account for that, adding that those sound issues would still be in play with a steel structure.
Board chair Jennifer Tuininga asked if there was anything discussed as part of the original plan in April that could be cut out of the project to save money.
Tyreman indicated they were still looking at those details, but one thing that might be put on hold was the establishment of a community kitchen to replace the old Busby Community Hall.
However, Tyreman said he still has some money allocated for the kitchen and some exterior renovations to be completed in the summer of 2022 using CMR and IMR Funds.
It would be nice to do as much as they can, he said, but that might not be possible with the cost of everything going up.
Trustee Jackie Comeau, who ultimately put forward the motion approving the transfer of $650,000 from reserves, asked treasurer Heather Nanninga whether or not they had sufficient funds in the reserves to withdraw.
She said she didn’t feel comfortable approving the withdrawal and then learning that they had completely depleted their reserves once the year-end financial numbers are available.
After a break, Nanninga told the board they should have $2.5 million in reserves once the financial year was over.
While this was a very rough estimate, she noted the division was likely going to finish the 2021 year with a surplus that will go into reserves.
