Chatelech Secondary School has had a busy year educating 850 students in the midst of major construction.
But as Phase 2 of the $8 million project nears completion, the crowding at the school is finally easing up. The new entrance, school offices and six second-storey classrooms are in use. The last of the school's nine portable classrooms were scheduled for removal this week, with an expanded parking lot to take their place. The playing fields are getting an irrigation system installed, with the help of a $15,000 grant from the Sunshine Coast Regional District.
Principal Jim McGowan expects the school expansion to be complete by September, when the art, photography and video programs now housed in Sechelt Elementary School down the hill will move back into Chatelech.
The big multi-purpose space in the high school lobby is still a bit industrial looking with its concrete floor. The tiles won't be installed until the other construction is complete. But students seem to enjoy having, at last, an indoor space to eat lunch or hang out during study breaks.
"It's definitely a good thing - not as crowded as it was," said Grade 11 student Colin Page.
Big garage doors allow this room to open up onto the outdoor patio in good weather. The new school store and kitchen is open for a hot lunch program and potentially for catering special events.
"We can easily host a banquet here," said McGowan as he showed off some of the 200 round tables made by local woodworker Tim Clement.
The biggest and most complex part of the new wing, a 202-seat theatre that was originally planned to open this month, won't be finished until at least the end of June. Last week, the theatre seats were still waiting in boxes in the lobby while electricians were at work installing heavy-duty wiring for the lights and sound system.
"The lighting and sound package will be exceptional," promised McGowan. "Originally we were going to do this to high school standards, but then we decided to bump it up to community theatre standards."
Those upgrades to the theatre building and equipment will cost about $200,000 extra.
The theatre will have space to accommodate four wheelchairs, and a soundproof folding door can separate the seating from the stage if needed. The school is selling seat sponsorships to raise money for additional theatre equipment, such as a good piano.
Meanwhile, in the older parts of the school, Phase 3 of construction is underway as old rooms are gutted and renovated to provide space for special education, life skills, video production and a darkroom. The old offices will become a classroom and a junior science laboratory. Over the summer, the music and sewing rooms will be renovated as well.
Those renovations ran into unexpected costs for asbestos removal from the plumbing and in some cases from old drywall. In the course of demolition, workers found more asbestos than was expected, requiring repeated visits from a remediation team of asbestos experts. The asbestos removal added about $155,000 to the construction cost.
A last-minute decision to install more sprinklers added another $30,000.
Another financial hit came with the provincial government's decision not to reimburse the school district for $300,000 spent at the beginning of the project, in 2002. That money was needed to move some portable classrooms to make way for the construction of the new gym, and the school district had expected the expense to be covered by the provincial Ministry of Finance.
"Things changed in Victoria over the life of this project," said Kelly Grittner, the school district treasurer who postponed his retirement to see the Chatelech expansion through to completion. "[The approval] was literally on a finance officer's desk the day he was terminated. These monies were never given back by the finance ministry."
