ECO-OVERHAUL: New school construction in B.C.’s Southern Interior heats up BY JILL SCHETTLER
Above: Final rendering of Revelstoke Secondary School. Left: Revelstoke School Board Chairman Alan Chell speaks about the project.
For the students of the new millennium, every day is Earth Day. Yet the very schools they inhabit, though built on good intentions, do not make the grade when it comes to environmental awareness. That is, until now. Behind the fenced-in construction zones across B.C.’s Southern Interior, the hard work and labour of the past is about to get an eco-overhaul. School District No. 19 will soon upgrade two elementary facilities in their roster by consolidating two older schools, and will be replacing Revelstoke Secondary School; both projects will occupy the same site.
10 Ops Talk • Fall 2010
Anne Cooper, superintendent of schools, brims with pride over the Revelstoke project, which she labels an exemplar for 21st-century school building. “All around, it’s just a phenomenal project,” Cooper enthuses. “I think it’s the most exciting project in education in this province; namely because by consolidating two very old, inefficient elementary schools into one, new state-of-the-art facility, we’ll be able to operate more efficiently annually and reduce our impact on the environment.” Construction on both projects commenced March 2010. The secondary
school, a replacement project in planning since 2000, is scheduled for completion November 2011. And the elementary school consolidation project – of two older schools, Mountain View and Mt. Begbie Elementary – will wrap up September 2012. In addition, the contract will include two on-site Neighbourhood Learning Centres (NLCs). Open 365-days-a-year, the NLCs will offer communal access to its many engaging facilities – a 275-seat community theatre, acrobatics centre, the province’s first early learning hub, and the on-site counseling and social services which better equip the 750-plus students and staff. “The community shares our excitement about these facilities,” Cooper says. “We’ve really been able to work collaboratively with a number of organizations in the community to design facilities that both work for the community and enhance the school.” In a recent press release, the province announced 14 Neighbourhood Learning Centres in 10 school districts across B.C. All districts are being encouraged to move toward this inclusive approach. The Revelstoke schools are designed to achieve LEED® Gold certification – a standard aiming to reduce a building’s carbon footprint through the introduction of many innovative and eco-friendly products, tools and systems. One such system comes from the Revelstoke Community Energy Corporation Thermal Energy Plant, which will provide the schools’ heating requirements. Graham Contractors Ltd. is the confirmed proponent on the build. The
