Peggy Revell
Students and staff at Mine Centre won’t be moving into their new school just yet.
Completion of the new school now is anticipated by mid-September, with students and staff to begin the year in the old school in the meantime.
“They’re very close [to completion],” said Raymond Roy, manager of plant and operations for the Rainy River District School Board.
The delay in moving into the school is due to “just normal construction delays,” Roy explained.
For example, the production of the fire pump took a lot longer than anticipated—needed as it is for the fire sprinkler system.
As well, delays were caused from waiting for the hook-up of permanent power by Hydro One at the site, added Roy, meaning workers only had the electrical capacity to work on sections of the new school at time.
With a capital budget of $6,449,600, the new school will be roughly 17,450 sq. ft. in size, which will include one junior/senior kindergarten room, three junior/intermediate classrooms, a computer lab/library, learning circle room, special education room, language room, and kitchen.
There also will be 3,200 sq. ft. gymnasium.
Once the students and staff are moved over to the new school, demolition of the old one will begin.
A campus plan still has to be completed for what the whole school site will look like once construction and demolition are done, noted Roy.
There will, however, will be a circle for buses and a drop-off area.
“It’s a beautiful school,” said site supervisor Mark Saville, noting he was a student both at the old Mine Centre School and the old Robert Moore School in Fort Frances.
“For me, [the best part is] definitely the chance to come back and build the new school,” he enthused.
One new aspect of the school is its geothermal heating system—similar to the system that exists at J.W. Walker School here.
“It’s like a refrigerator, except it works backwards,” noted Saville, explaining that the heat for Mine Centre’s system is drawn from 24 280-foot drill holes from the geothermal field, then carried into the building, and then sent back out to recirculate through the ground as part of the looped system.
In the summers, this system can be reversed for air conditioning, he added.
“It’s very energy-efficient and it’s very cost-effective,” said Roy.
Despite the delay, Roy stressed the advantages the new school will bring to the students.
“For us, it’s obviously the classrooms, the technology for the kids, the full-sized gym is definitely a big deal,” he remarked, noting the old school didn’t have a full-sized gym, meaning tournaments often were moved to neighbouring First Nation communities.
“It’s also a building that the community is going to use,” Roy said.
