School District 73 has chosen an architect and struck a committee for the new Pineview Valley elementary, construction on which is expected to start next year,
The board of education has approved the establishment of the Pineview Valley Engagement Committee, which will be composed of community members, district and school staff and parents to provide input on early designs of the new school.
Station One Architects has been hired to support the district in design, landscaping, project management and interior design.
The company is no stranger to SD73 capital projects, having worked on the Valleyview secondary expansion and the under-construction Parkcrest elementary.
The new Pineview Valley school had been on the board’s capital plan since 2014. At the time, a lack of space in South Shore schools emerged due to a growing city population and increased school enrolment.
That has led to McGowan Park elementary in Upper Sahali, a school some Pineview Valley students attend, being 60 per cent above capacity.
“We have been working closely with the McGowan Park staff and parents to manage these burgeoning space pressures,” board chair Heather Grieve said in a release.
Construction on the new Pineview Valley school is expected to begin in the spring of 2024 and be completed by the summer of 2026.
The school will be built on 3.16 hectares (7.8 acres) of vacant land owned by School District 73 at 1900 Copperhead Dr., just south of Snowberry Crescent and east of Python Lake. The school district owned a 2.28-hectare lot and purchased almost a hectare of adjoining lots for the school site after city council adopted a rezoning application.
The provincial government has provided $65.3 million for the new 485-seat elementary school, which will have students from Kindergarten to Grade 7 and will include a learning centre, which will be used for programs and services, including childcare.
Mass timber will be used in the new school’s design, where appropriate. It will also include greenhouse gas reduction measures that will set the building’s emissions at least 50 per cent lower than the current LEED Gold standards. In addition, the school will be built with a climate-resilient building design that will better equip the school to stay cool during extreme heat.
