The Grande Prairie Catholic School District has been given the green light to build a new bus depot in the city. The building will be located in an industrial park facing 97 Avenue. Superintendent Karl Germann believes that’s the perfect site for the facility.
“We’re looking for a shop that’s 10,000 feet in total, 8,500 square feet on the main floor allowing for expansion in the future… We believe that this site is the right site. It allows us to use a marginal site and build a building both for now and something that can be expanded in the future.”
The district has a fleet of 60 buses as well as maintenance vehicles. The facility would include garage space for bus maintenance, a storage yard for the vehicles and office space. Currently, the district is renting a space that School Board Trustee Jamie Schoolemmer says is too small and costly for them.
“We have been in a small space for several years [and] our district’s been growing for many years as well. The space that we’re in because it’s a rented piece of property we have been paying out enough to have built a shop of this magnitude in the past.”
Germann also agrees with that statement.
“You look at this city as it continues to grow over a period of time. This shops going to be needed now and in the future and then the board doesn’t have to waste money on rent. It’s wise planning on the trustees to actually use the money now and actually own it for life.”
The estimated cost of the new building will be $1.5 million. The board is hoping to start construction this spring.