Peggy Revell
Construction has wrapped up on the new Rainy River District School Board offices.
“It looks beautiful. We’re happy with the final product—it’s gone quite smoothly, actually,” said Raymond Roy, the board’s manager of plant and operations, referring to the transformation of the old Robert Moore School gymnasium and adjoining board office space into the new Education Centre.
As of Monday (July 25), board employees were in the new office space, having spent the past year or so in the old Robert Moore School while construction was underway.
With the old school slated for demolition, one of the biggest changes has seen a new layout so staff, including program support, IT, and the central library, could be relocated from the basement, where they had been situated over the years.
As for the demolition of the old Robert Moore School, Roy said this won’t happen until sometime in August.
“Once we get moved out of there, then [workers have] got work to do inside,” he noted, explaining all hazardous materials have to be taken out, including all the asbestos, before any demolition can begin.
“So that will take a couple of weeks, for sure.”
“It should be good,” said Will Sixsmith, a network technician with the board, who will be one of the many employees moving upstairs to the new facilities.
“We’ve got a lot more space,” he noted. “All the network infrastructures are going to get all consolidated into one place, and we get to do upgrades at the same time—get all of our stuff moved over to fibre.”
Having windows also will make for a nice change for those who had been in the basement.
“I never had any windows before this,” said Sixsmith. “Every place I’ve ever worked, there’s never been any windows.”
He noted being on the main floor also is nicer for getting in and out, especially when they are moving equipment.
“Every four years we refresh computers, so we have 200 or 300 computers we’re bringing in and out.
“So that’s a lot of movement.”
Easier maintenance is another one of the nice things about having the board’s facilities all on one level and area, noted Lanny Freeman, head of maintenance and area supervisor with the RRDSB.
“It’s a lot brighter, a lot cleaner,” he enthused.
As well, Freeman said the facility has a state-of-the-art heating and cooling system.
“We’ve got rooftop units and they’re all hooked into a program that’s controlled by computers,” he explained, noting this means temperatures can be controlled via computer from across the district.
“It’s amazing.”
Up until now, only certain areas of the building had air conditioning, Freeman noted.
But now each room will have its own individual control for heat and cold, which is especially important with the new technology and computers as they can throw off a lot of heat, he explained.
Another change in the layout is having the main entrance facing out into the parking lot shared by the board and the new Robert Moore School, instead of the alleyway.
The parking lot also will have to be re-designed, said Roy, with a change to the lines so proper handicapped parking is marked out.
As for plans once the old Robert Moore is demolished, Roy said the board just formed a committee to look into the different options for outdoor facilities for the new school and develop a plan for the rest of the campus.