Great progress has been made on the new Delia School, and it is on track to open to students on schedule.
Prairie Land School Division broke ground on the project in September of last year, and the managing contractor Shunda of Red Deer has been making steady progress on the new school project.
“To date, we have 95 per cent of the structural steel up and in place. Obviously, our masonry is done for now on the gym,” said Site superintendent Brian Antonsen. “The roofers are on site and are about 30 per cent complete.”
He said the masonry and siding contractors are also on-site installing vapour barrier. They are also defrosting the ground within the building so they can begin doing some slab preparation.
“The first area we want to pour is the gymnasium, and that will be poured within the next month.” said Antonsen.
After that, they will work their way through the site completing the slab and enclosing the building envelope.
“We are doing well. We are on schedule. The overall project schedule they have given us, we are still good with that… It has been a good start,” he said.
He says they have been lucky to have a surplus of manpower and have put together a good team. Shunda is the general contractor and throughout the project, they will have upwards of 20-25 sub-trades and could have up to 70 workers on site. He feels supported by every level of government, the school division, and the community.
“We are not used to this small town feel… anything we need, not only do they give you a lead on it, they bring the guys to site the next day,” he said.
He says they support working with the community, and the community is excited to see the progress of the school construction.
“If we are in this community, this is where we need to get our tires changed, our oil changed, and support the local diner. It goes a long way, and I think the town appreciates this and gives their appreciation back,” he said. “Our guys are staying in a house in town, and the lady next door is cooking them dinner. They pay her to cook for them, and they are never disappointed. That is the kind of thing you don’t see working in the bigger areas.”
Delia School Principal Ryan Duckworth has been at the school before the project began and has taken an active role in planning.
“It is a dream actually to be a part of the planning, problem-solving, and building the school exactly how we would like to see it, so I got a lot of my wishes,” said Duckworth. “I don’t think many principals get the opportunity that I have.”
The Delia school is more than just a new school, it has a vision of being a community hub. The Delia School Enhancement Society was formed and was able to raise $1.2 million in five months. This will go to outfitting the school as well as adding multi-use facilities for the community as well.
“We will have a state of the art facility with the biggest gym in Prairie Land,” said Duckworth, adding this could be utilized in several different ways, from hosting large tournaments to performances.
The new Delia School is slated to open in the spring of 2022.
