Watch the video above: construction delays have school boards coming up with contingency plans if two new schools don’t open on time
SASKATOON – Saskatoon public school employees have been left scrambling after concerns over looming construction deadlines.
New schools in Willowgrove were scheduled to open in April, but construction delays have now bumped opening dates back to June.
“The contractor believes that they can have the building finished and turned over to us by June 30,” said Saskatoon Public School board chair Ray Morrison.
“But our experts, and even based on my own tours of the building, and living in that community, we think that’s overly optimistic.”
Willowgrove Elementary, Holy Family Catholic School, and a daycare centre are all scheduled to be open by the summer.
But Morrison said the deadline is looking unlikely, and school board members and school employees are now developing a Plan B, which isn’t an easy task.
“For us this is a significant amount of work and additional cost that we will have to incur as a school division,” Morrison explained.
EllisDon is the contractor for the Willowgrove Schools. The company’s local vice president Jason Sheldrick said the company takes full responsibility for the delays.
“I think it’s some nervousness, they are justified in being that way because we’ve had some slippages to bring us to where we are today,” he explained.
EllisDon maintains that if everything goes according to plan the schools will be ready on time.
“I would be more than happy to stand up at the end of June and give a public apology to EllisDon if they turn the building over to us,” said Morrison.
EllisDon is also the contractor for the new police headquarters in Saskatoon, which was supposed to be completed by October 2013. Now the move-in date has been pushed back to the end of March.
“We’ve got movers in line. they understand the process…so they just back things up a bit,” explained Bernie Pannell, deputy operations chief for the Saskatoon Police Service.
“Managing expectations of our members is a big one because everybody wants to get into this building,” he said.
Sheldrick said delays are due to many factors, including labour shortages, and a shortage of resources. The company is also the contractor for the Remai Art Gallery, which is scheduled to open in June 2016.
Parents are being asked to continue the registration process for the new Willowgrove schools, and updates will be provided as soon as possible.
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