(Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Site preparation for new west Lethbridge elementary school to start this spring

Apr 14, 2022 | 2:59 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge School Division (LSD) hopes to open its new elementary school on the west side in September 2025.

In order to make that happen, they say a “significant amount of work” will need to be completed this spring to get the site in Garry Station ready for construction.

Melcor Developments is proceeding with installing new utilities, road realignments, and widening and leveling of the building location and playing fields.

The company hopes to complete that work this fall.

The site is located south of Kensington Road West and west of the newly-renamed Abitibi Road West.

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The LSD recently learned that the school has been approved to be part of a Public-Private Partnership (P3) bundle.

That will eventually see the Ministry of Education partnering with a private company. Among other responsibilities, the company will handle construction for the school in Lethbridge as well as three others in the Edmonton area and one in Calgary.

The Ministry hopes that the P3 model will result in significant cost savings for the provincial government.

Christine Lee, Associate Superintendent of Business and Operations at the LSD, says this model is a bit different in that the school division controls the money with the project, rather than that being handled by the Ministry.

“We took… the risk with that project. If we, for instance, went over our grant funding, we would have to worry about how we would cover that, and there’s more flexibility, of course. When we’re managing it here under a P3, the government’s goal, of course, is that they create value for money from one proponent handling all the schools

The province also approved $250,000 for a playground at the school.

The school in Garry Station is planned to initially have the capacity for 610 students in Grades K-5 with the ability to hold up to 900 students with future portable additions.

Construction is expected to start sometime in 2023.

READ MORE: Lethbridge students challenged to design new west side school using Minecraft