It was shovels-ready to cap off the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion and renovation at Lloydminster Comprehensive High School last Thursday. Pictured are school officials and representatives, invited dignitaries, and construction project reps. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
The ongoing $28.8 million expansion of renovation at Lloydminster Comprehensive High School will help the school reconnect with Lloydminster with pandemic isolation in the rearview mirror.
An official sod-turning ceremony on the morning of May 26 is the latest step in the process according to LPSD acting director of education, Scott Wouters, one of several guest speakers.
“The last couple of years have been interesting, to say the least. We are moving down a period of celebration at the end of May and into June that we all need to be proud of,” he said.
Wouters cites a recent powwow, a flag-raising ceremony, a district track and field event and upcoming graduation on June 24 as examples of reconnecting along with the construction.
“We needed this project. In we, I mean the students at LPSD, the staff at LPSD, and the citizens of Lloydminster,” said Wouters.
“We had a goal at the school division at the beginning of the year to reconnect. What we felt with the lifting of restrictions in February, we are getting back to celebrate our students.”
He says three things he sees the project helping to bring the LPSD and Lloydminster together again are Truth and Reconciliation, arts and sports reflected in the project elements.
School principal, Dwayne Marciniw, also picked up on that vision.
“Those were the three important pillars of the project we brought to the table. Those were the considerations when we were developing the space,” said Marciniw.
He says a classroom next to an outdoor courtyard will be a cultural room.
“We really look forward to learning about and celebrating Indigenous cultures and being at one with nature,” he told the audience.
Future plans call for a permanent teepee structure in the green space as part of the Truth and Reconciliation process.
There will also be flexible space for evolving graphic and visual arts classes.
We continue to expand programs at LCHS that kids are interested in,” said Marciniw, including a room for science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM studies.
Wouters pointed out the official name of the fieldhouse is Synergy Place, Home of the Barons.
“It was passed last night by the LPSD board,” he revealed.
“This facility will be state of the art. Our intention is to host provincial events and provincial banners. We see it being a hub for Lloydminster as well.”
Architect Tristan Hawryluk, partner with The Workun Garrick Partnership, says the fieldhouse is going to be a beautiful facility.
He says the design challenge was to fit a lot of school programs into a tight footprint with minimal disturbance to existing trees and a courtyard.
“We managed to make it all fit and I think it’s going to work well. It’s not just for the kids, but it’s going to be a community space used for many years to come,” said Hawryluk.”
The main floor addition will have 3,714m2 of space with 1,579m2 on the second storey.
Lloydminster MLA Colleen Young described what the finished product will look like with Quorex Construction equipment onsite set to resume earth moving.
“Once completed, this school will have a new two-storey expansion with 12 additional classrooms, two science rooms and two multipurpose rooms,” said Young.
There will also be a new student services hub inside the existing school.
“I hope everyone here is looking forward to seeing the progression of this project as much as I am.”
Young is the mother of eight children who attended LCHS that first opened in 1968.
Doreen McRobert, constituent assistant representing Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright MLA Garth Rowswell, noted the expansion will allow LCHS to enrol an additional 900 Grade 9 pupils.
“We can look forward to the opening ceremony planned for 2023,” said McRoberts.
The school’s valedictorian Jennifer Wald was also on hand representing the student population.
“That’s what this is about. the hub of this is serving students,” said Marciniw.
Wald thinks the new addition will give incoming students lots of opportunities.
“It’s really exciting for them to have new things to look forward to. I like to see that everyone’s so onboard and working really hard to get this done for the students,” she said.
“It will be a big part of the community for sure definitely with the sports I’m thinking.”
Wald is enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan this fall in civil engineering.
