The Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) has several projects planned across different school sites, set to take place over the course of the summer
“Our maintenance team is going to be very busy over the summer, as they usually are,” said GVSD Secretary Treasurer Kevin Vovchuk. “We are doing some meeting room renovations at GVC and GVC Tech.”
In addition to those updates, GVSD crews will be tackling a number of infrastructure improvements. Concrete work is scheduled to take place at Southwood, Parkland, and NPC, while a sewer relining job will be carried out at GVC — one that Vovchuk jokingly referred to as “the project we love talking about.”
Over at WES, the elevator door operator is being repaired, and asbestos abatement is taking place in the school’s crawl space.
“It’s not a problem in any way for students or staff,” he said. “We’re doing it over the summer just to ensure that there isn’t anything released in the air during when there are kids or staff in the building.”
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Southwood's gym floor
One of the more visible projects this summer is the replacement of the gym floor at Southwood School. The project has been on the division's radar for some time, but is finally moving forward thanks to internal funding.
“That has been in the capital plan for, well, the three years I’ve been here, but I think it’s been in there for more than that,” said Vovchuk. “Unfortunately, it’s just one of those capital projects that’s unlikely to gain the attention of the province for provincial funding.”
Rather than wait, the division chose to self-finance the much-needed work. “The board has made the decision to self-finance. We will pay for it internally, it’s in need. The floor is in pretty terrible shape, so we’re excited about putting a fresh gym floor on.”
That gym floor replacement is expected to cost approximately $60,000, and will be made of a sheet vinyl product created specifically for gym floors.
Maintenance and construction crews will be working on the above projects during the summer, and are scheduled to be completed by fall in time for the next school year.