Students, families, teachers and staff will soon benefit from a new Lord Nelson Elementary with construction now underway to seismically replace the school thanks to $18.4 million from the Province.

Education Minister Mike Bernier joined Vancouver School Board official trustee Dianne Turner and the Lord Nelson community today to mark the beginning of construction for the replacement school with a formal groundbreaking ceremony.

The project includes replacing the existing Lord Nelson Elementary school with a state-of-the-art building on the same site. The new school will be built to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard and will support B.C.’s new curriculum with modern and open learning spaces. The new three-storey school will have a Neighbourhood Learning Centre and a StrongStart program.

(flickr.com)

In addition, the City of Vancouver is providing $6.4 million to build a 69-space childcare centre for those aged four and under on the third floor. The provincial funding for the school includes $500,000 for the childcare centre provided through the Ministry of Children and Family Development’s Child Care Major Capital Program.

Students will remain in the existing school until the new school is built. The old school will then be demolished. The new school is expected to be ready in the fall of 2018.

The Vancouver Project Office, which aims to ensure school seismic projects in Vancouver are completed faster and more cost-effectively, has expedited this and several other key capital projects in Vancouver totalling more than $200 million. Recently, government directed the Vancouver Project Office to take a fresh look at ways to fast-track seismic upgrades or replacement projects in Vancouver.

Government is able to make investments like the Lord Nelson Elementary school seismic replacement project, thanks to the Province’s fiscal discipline and strong economy. The project will also help ensure young people get a chance to learn the trades, as it will be built under B.C.’s Apprentices on Public Projects Policy.

Quotes:

Mike Bernier, Minister of Education –

“Our goal is to get more students into seismically safe schools as quickly as possible. With construction underway to replace Lord Nelson, students will soon have a seismically safer and state-of-the-art place to learn and succeed.”

Stephanie Cadieux, Minister of Children and Family Development –

“This new child-care centre will be a neighbourhood gathering place that will allow parents and children to access essential health, education and employment services in one convenient location. Combining these child-care spaces with a new school means that young learners in Vancouver will have the best possible start on their path to success in school and in life.”

Dianne Turner, official trustee, Vancouver School Board –

“It’s wonderful to see construction begin on Lord Nelson Elementary to build a replacement school, a great example of how we are pushing forward with seismic mitigation work to ensure our students have safe and welcoming environments to focus on learning. With this innovative partnership, the Grandview-Woodlands community will not only have a new, seismically safe school but also an expanded child care centre that will benefit families in the area."

Gregor Robertson, City of Vancouver mayor –

“There is a huge demand for affordable, quality child care in Vancouver. By combining new child care facilities with upgrades to our schools, the City is maximizing its investment and working with the Provincial Government to help deliver new child care spaces for Vancouver parents.”

(flickr.com)

Quick Facts:

• The new school will have the same capacity: 57 kindergarten and 373 grades 1 to 7 students.
• Lord Nelson was constructed in 1910. Additional wings were added in the 1950s and 60s.
• Since 2001, government has spent over $234 million and is committed to spend another $566 million for a total investment of over $800 million to ensure schools in Vancouver are seismically safe for students.
• Including Lord Nelson Elementary, the following projects are currently underway in Vancouver:
  • Lord Tennyson Elementary – $24.5-million seismic replacement
  • Dr. Annie B. Jamieson – $13.1-million seismic upgrade;
  • Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary – $25.9-million seismic replacement and childcare centre;
  • Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith Elementary – $11.6-million seismic upgrade;
  • Lord Strathcona Elementary – $25.6-million seismic upgrade;
  • L’Ecole Bilingue Elementary – $15.2-million seismic replacement;
  • Kitsilano Secondary – $57.8-million seismic upgrade and replacement;
  • Queen Mary Elementary – $19.1-million seismic upgrade.
• Over the next three years, B.C. will invest $1.7 billion to replace and renovate aging school buildings and add more student spaces in growing communities.
• As part of its commitment under the B.C. Early Years Strategy, the Province is supporting the creation of 13,000 new licensed child-care spaces by 2020. Since Nov. 2014, the Province has invested a total of $26.5 million to support the creation of more than 4,300 new licensed child-care spaces throughout B.C., building on the more than 111,000 spaces that government currently supports.
• Of these new spaces, the 69 new child-care spaces at Lord Nelson Elementary are part of government’s $3.1-million investment to support the creation of 343 new licensed child-care spaces in Vancouver, including:
  • 84 infant and toddler spaces
  • 125 spaces for children aged three to five years
  • 75 preschool spaces
  • 59 school-aged spaces.

Learn More:

For more information about the Ministry of Education’s Seismic Mitigation Program: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/capitalplanning/seismic/

Vancouver school district (SD 39): https://www.vsb.bc.ca/

B.C.’s New Curriculum: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/

StrongStart BC: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/early-learning/learn/strongstart-bc

Neighbourhood Learning Centres: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/administration/community-partnerships/neighbourhood-learning-centres

For high-resolution images of the new Lord Nelson Elementary: https://flic.kr/p/NsCf5a