David Thompson, LPSD board chair, Jeremy Cockrill, Sask Minister of Education, Dwayne Marciniw, principal, LCHS, Colleen Young, Sask Minister of Advanced Education, and Jason Neville, director of education, LPSD, were all smiles last Thursday during the grand opening of the $28.8M LCHS expansion and renovation. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
The wait is finally over at Lloydminster Comprehensive High School (LCHS) as staff and students celebrated the completion of a $28.8 million renovation and expansion.
The Government of Saskatchewan and the Province of Alberta, through The Lloydminster Charter, jointly invested $28.8 million in the project, which added an extra 2-storey building that houses an additional 16 classrooms.
With the new space, which officially opened last week, the school, which was once attended by Grade 10 to 12 students only, will now welcome 335 Grade 9 students.
“The successful completion of this significant project can be largely attributed to the hard work and collaboration among various levels of government and local community,” said Sask Minister of Education Jeremy Cockrill.
“Our government is proud to have contributed to this project which provides more new classrooms where students can achieve their goals.”
David Thompson, Lloydminster Public School Division board chair, explained the grand opening of the new wing was the realization of a dream that was developed seven or eight years ago.
“Without the timely approval of this project and the funding from both governments, today we’d be standing in the middle of a field talking about the dream we’ve now realized,” he said.
“On behalf of the board, (thank you) to Synergy Credit Union and the City of Lloydminster. Synergy contributed half a million dollars and the city, a quarter of a million dollars, and that allowed us to enlarge and enhance this part of the building as well as student experience and community youths.”
For Lloydminster MLA and newly-minted Minister of Advanced Education, Colleen Young, the expansion was a necessary step to accommodate the growing population in Lloyd.
“They are our future, and as advanced ed minister, there’s work to be done ensuring we have a workforce with a growing economy in Saskatchewan as we move forward,” said Young.
“This is where it begins, and hopefully, students will start thinking about those careers as we move forward.
“They have the opportunity within this facility to experience different learning environments and maybe find where their passion is and use that as they move forward in their careers.”
Current and former LPSD directors of education were also present, with Michael Diachuk, a former director, bringing greetings from the City of Lloydminster in his current role as a city councillor.
“I left the Lloydminster Public School Division almost 10 years ago and this is my first opportunity to come back and have conversations with students and staff, many of whom I still remember, … jeez, our old director Todd Robinson is here … how’d they let him in?” said Diachuk with a laugh.
Read More:LCHS hosts tour of renovations
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