By mid-August, a bustling construction site will be transformed into classrooms.

With each passing day, more progress is made on the new Pine Ridge Elementary School in Winkler ahead of the scheduled September 3 opening.

 

 

Garden Valley School Division Capital Projects Supervisor, Abe Wiebe, says with the majority of the interior painting complete, the plan this week is to continue with flooring so that millwork can be installed in all of the classrooms. He says some lighting has started going in, as well as some suspended ceilings. "You'll find that there will be a lot of classrooms that we'll be able to close the door on, and it should be dust free, and it should be clean, and it will look like a classroom."

Wiebe notes the base floor of the gym is also slated to be installed this week. "After the base is in, which is a couple of layers of plywood, we have to acclimatize the wood itself, and so it will be brought into the building space so that it can acclimatize to the conditions so that there won't be any undo expansion or contraction in the floor."

Meanwhile, Wiebe says their current plan is to have the school ready for staff to move into the building in about a month and a half. "Our current plan and our expectation are that in the middle of August, we will have the entire school occuppiable, so that they (staff) would be able to move into their classrooms... We have to get interim occupancy, and that should happen shortly thereafter."