Three years ago Argyle secondary was identified as being at high risk for serious damage in the event of an earthquake.
Today those students are still at risk, as the North Vancouver School District awaits approval for a $48.9-million rebuild project for Argyle from the Ministry of Education.
For the past 10 years, replacement of seismically-risky Argyle and Handsworth secondary schools have been top priorities on the North Vancouver School District’s capital plan.
Early in the process, superintendent John Lewis hoped that a new Argyle school would open by 2017. But now, the very earliest a new Argyle school is likely to open its doors would be 2019.
As of this week, the province is still reviewing the school district’s formal request to convert the Argyle seismic upgrade project into a full replacement project, said Minstry of Education spokesman Scott Sutherland.
A previously announced target date of 2020 for the completion of upgrades to schools at high seismic risk around the province has also been pushed back to 2025.
Argyle and Handsworth are among the 38 high-risk schools around the province that have been approved for seismic funding, but are without a signed project agreement in place.
Addressing the media last Friday, Education Minister Peter Fassbender said the students’ safety has been a key priority since the seismic program started in 2005.
Fassbender added many of the projects have ended up being more complicated than first thought.
North Vancouver school board chairman Barry Forward is confident there will soon be an answer from the ministry on the Argyle rebuild.
“As far as Argyle is concerned, we are pretty far down the path on it,” said Forward. “The long and short of it is: these are big capital projects and they take a long time to come together.”
Part of the application hinges on the ministry of education being satisfied the school district has a plan in place to fund the difference between a $40-million seismic upgrade and the $48.9-million cost of a complete rebuild.
The school district is also dealing with a debt of $6.2 million — relating to the Sutherland and Westview school rebuilds — that must be paid off by the end of this year.
Forward said the school district is hoping to use proceeds from the sale of former school properties Keith Lynn, Monterey, Braemar and Ridgeway Annex to bridge the $14-million funding gap for Argyle and pay off any outstanding debt.
“From our point of view, we have done what we needed to do to put the monies in place to rebuild Argyle,” said Forward.
Forward said he believes the community is well aware of the challenges involved in the Argyle project. Once approved, it will still take two years to get all the plans in place before building can start.
Windsor secondary — the other high-risk school identified by the province — has been approved for seismic upgrades, which are scheduled to take place this summer.
