Marie Sharpe in Williams Lake has been School District 27’s number one priority for replacement for some time now.
Superintendent Chris Van Der Mark said as they continue to work on their capital request to qualify for new school funding, they’ve also been working with partners on concepts to help make the project more attractive.
“If we’re asking for a school anyway, and we may or may not get it, I think partnerships in this day and age in general are a better way to get things done. What are the partnerships that could help us get the school across the finish line, we know what a massive asset that would be to our kids, to our community, to our communities.”
He said the District had been thinking about how to work with partners to make that project more attractive and have come up with a couple of concepts that include an indoor fieldhouse and a cultural centre.
A year round fieldhouse Van Der Mark said is about $15 million depending on it’s size, and a cultural centre is easily in the $10 million range.
“We will only get funding for the school portion, the other part is other partners in some fashion or another coming forward and going we want to attach to this and how. I think this stand alone school project is $30 million.”
Van der Mark noted that even if they are successful in obtaining school funding, that usually gets announced in February or March, there are a few years from announcement time to build time.
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