Pair of city schools promised new gyms

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This article was published 15/06/2011 (5408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s George Fitton and Green Acres schools have both been promised provincial cash for better gymnasium facilities to meet the needs of their expanding communities.

Gyms at the two schools have been pushed to the limits of their capacity since last September, when Grade 7 and 8 students from the former Harrison Middle School were reassigned back to their old elementary schools to make way for a single-track French immersion school at the Harrison building.

It was announced yesterday that both George Fitton and Green Acres will receive the cash needed to build more suitable gym space for their student populations through the province’s five-year, $50-million Active Schools Fund.

The fund is separate from the Public Schools Finance Board’s annual capital upgrade program and was announced by Education Minister Nancy Allan earlier this spring.

"The families (at those schools) went through an awful lot over the last number of years with the milieu school debate," Brandon East NDP MLA Drew Caldwell said in making the announcement yesterday. "We wanted to be very responsive to what the critical needs were for those families and those young people who live in (those school communities).

"The Active Schools Fund was a perfect fit because it’s focusing on healthy living and community development. There’s a number of gyms throughout the province that will benefit from this $50-million provincial infusion, but several million is going to be invested in Brandon alone."

A total of 19 school projects across the province were announced as funding recipients through the five-year program yesterday — 14 in the first phase of the program and five in the second phase.

A new gymnasium at George Fitton will be built in the first phase, and its construction will include ancillary space for change rooms, washrooms, storage and a teacher’s office.

The school’s current gym will be converted into additional useable space.

When completed, principal Gail McDonald says their new gym will mean the school’s entire physical education program can be conducted on site, versus the current sharing arrangement they have with École Harrison.

"We will still have to be running double classes within the gym in order to get the recommended time allotment for each of our classes. However, we will be able to do them on-site. We won’t be walking across the playground to École Harrison," she said. "Plus, we’ll be able to have extra-curricular sports here. Right now, we rely on (Harrison’s) gymnasium to do our extra-curricular because our gym isn’t regulation-size."

McDonald said students were ecstatic to learn that, after a tumultuous year in which the school essentially went from being one kind of school community to another kind of school community, they will now be able to look forward to a gym that meets their needs.

"It’s a step forward, and the new gym would certainly be used by the community as well," she said. "It’s just a very positive announcement."

Additional gym space at Green Acres has been approved in the second phase of the program, though yesterday’s government announcement did not make clear whether that means a new construction or expanded gym facility. As indicated in the provincial news release, the first phase will be rolled out over the "next two years," with the second phase listed as happening over the "next two to four years."

Board chair Marty Snelling says they are extremely pleased that the province has responded to their needs.

"We’ve had this on the books for a number of years with the Public Schools Finance Board as part of our plan for George Fitton School," he said. "There are a number of families with limited economic resources for their children to participate in recreational activities. Through George Fitton’s physical education program, they will have, one, a better gym to participate in and, two, they’ll have more opportunity to learn skills.

"We’re hoping this has a very positive impact on the whole community."

Back in 2009, the cost of a new gym at George Fitton was estimated at approximately $2.5 million.

However, division secretary-treasurer Gerald Barnes suggested yesterday that, based on what he’s hearing regarding construction costs, those construction costs "are going to be higher than originally estimated."

If design work can be undertaken over the summer months and the division is able to tender the project by early fall, construction of the new gym could start in October, Barnes suggested.

"For over two years, we’ve been trying to get this project," he said. "So it’s good news that we’re getting it and we want to move it ahead as quickly as we can."

A timeline for the work on Green Acres — estimated in 2009 to cost approximately $2 million — has not been formulated at this time.

The last significant gym expansion undertaken in the division was the Linden Lanes gymnasium construction in 2004.

 

Playgrounds will be reviewed

All playgrounds in the Brandon School Division will be reviewed as part of a debate on what to do with an estimated budget surplus of more than half a million dollars.

The division is on track to record a surplus of $581,000 this year.

An unprecedented number of schools that are currently fundraising for new playgrounds to meet new Canadian Standards Association regulations have urged the division’s board of trustees to use surplus dollars to help them pay for new play structures, some of which come with a price tag of more than $100,000.

To aid trustees in that debate, the administration will review all playground structures across the division.

"We’ll look at safety, useful life remaining, the estimated cost to replace them and timeline for replacement," division secretary-treasurer Gerald Barnes said.

Parent councils at Betty Gibson, Earl Oxford, George Fitton, Harrison, Meadows, O’Kelly, Riverheights and Valleyview schools are all in the middle of fundraising for the purchase of new playground facilities.

Currently, the division has a playground and school yard maintenance fund which is added to by $15,000 each year.

All funds from that program, however, are already committed to the Riverheights School playground improvement project and the combined community playground project at George Fitton School/École Harrison.

Board chair Marty Snelling says he’s pushing for at least some of this year’s surplus to be rolled over into that fund to help the other schools that have expressed a financial need.

"In my estimation, we need to increase that fund," he said. "Pea gravel alone for a playground is $7,000."

The playground structural report could be ready at the board’s Aug. 29 meeting, after which time the board will decide how to proceed with its surplus. The debate could allow for a public consultation.

 

» Brandon Sun