The tender results are in and Grande Prairie Catholic Schools now has a better idea of what its new junior-senior high school in Arbour Hill will cost. The district’s second high school was originally approved in 2014, and the NDP government has since given them construction funding.
However, there wasn’t enough land in Grande Prairie that met their needs. Superintendent Karl Germann credits Henry Hamm of Prudential Lands and Helix Engineering for solving that problem by fast tracking a change to the area structure plan. That allowed for the construction of the new K to 9 school that opened this fall, with room for the much needed St. John Paul II Junior-Senior Catholic High School just north of it.
A sod turning was held in late August, and utility work is already being done. Footing should start in the fall, with steel work underway before Christmas. It’s expected construction will be done in 2018, but that could be anywhere between January and September at this point. The innovative Performing Arts Centre should be done around the same time.