While the summer is more than halfway over, Simcoe County school boards are in the thick of their summer construction projects.
Both the Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board are currently working away at school construction projects. This summer, the public board’s to-do list will see about $19.6 million spent across the board, while the Catholic board is expected to spend about $7.5 million.
Chris Whelan, senior manager of design and construction with the public board, says the labour and materials shortages that affected projects across the board last year have improved, but are still a concern.
“We’re starting to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel coming out of COVID. We do see a lot of labour shortages but the materials delays are getting better. It’s a positive. We have a good group of contractors,” said Whelan.
“It’s looking like a pretty positive summer for us this year,” he said.
Major projects in Innisfil this summer include washroom upgrades at Goodfellow Public School, a new special education suite and renovations to library rooms and staff work rooms at Nantyr Shores Secondary School, and lighting/electrical system renewal and special education suite renovations at Sunnybrae Public School.
Whelan says the Simcoe County District School Board has seen a trickle-down effect, where projects have been deferred due to budget constraints which then impacts the next year’s list, however, he said that the board has worked hard to play catch-up this year.
“Last year, we had a number of projects carry forward due to COVID, so we had a bit of a pile-up. We were able to sort that out, so we didn’t have to carry as many this year,” he said. “We’re very careful to make sure the most urgent (projects) get what they need and don’t push off anything urgent.”
“We’re looking pretty good on most of the projects. We’ve experienced a few delays...most won’t jeopardize the schools being ready for students in the fall,” said Whelan.
Craig Elliot, manager of capital projects for the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, told CollingwoodToday that much like last year, supply chain challenges impacted their summer projects.
“There are still longer than usual lead times for delivery of mechanical equipment,” said Elliot. “There is no real definitive answer to how to navigate supply chain challenges as each project is uniquely affected by supply chain issues.”
“School boards need to be flexible in timing of procurement of equipment and the phasing of the project,” he said.
As of mid-July, Elliot said the Catholic board’s projects were still on schedule.
“The projects are on budget relative to the increase in the construction price index,” he said.
Last year, the Catholic board spent $4 million on summer construction. Elliot says the budget increase this year was due to a larger scope of work.
“It’s approximately the same amount of projects as last year,” he said.
Major projects in Barrie this summer include sports field turf and irrigation work at Bear Creek Secondary School. Eastview Secondary School is also getting a turf upgrade, as well as fire protection upgrades, washroom upgrades and upgrades to gymnasiums, changerooms and ancillary spaces. Emma King Elementary School will be getting washroom upgrades while Innisdale Secondary School is getting interior alterations and upgrades to family studies classrooms.
At Catholic schools in Barrie, there will be HVAC upgrades done at Sister Catherine Donnelly Catholic Elementary School, Saint Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Elementary School and St. Monica’s Catholic Elementary School, plumbing retrofits at St. John Vianney Catholic Elementary School and a roof replacement at St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School.
Major projects in Bradford include a roofing replacement at Fieldcrest Elementary School, lighting/electrical renewal, PA and fire system renewal at Sir William Osler Public School, play area restoration at St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Elementary School, parking and play area restoration and HVAC upgrades at St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic Elementary School and a partial roof replacement and HVAC upgrades at Holy Trinity Catholic High School.
Major projects in Midland include an asphalt play area restoration at Sacred Heart and HVAC upgrades at Monsignor Castex Catholic Elementary School.
Major projects in Orillia include HVAC upgrades at Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School and a roofing replacement at Twin Lakes Secondary School.
Major projects in Collingwood include a building automation system (i.e. thermostats and room light sensors) renewal at Collingwood Collegiate Institute, and HVAC upgrades at both St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School and Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School.
Birchview Dunes Elementary School in Wasaga Beach will be getting an interior stair reconstruction and a renewal of their building automation system.
Neither the public nor Catholic boards covering Simcoe County have new schools slated to open in September.
