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New South Surrey schools, additions ‘on track,’ says district

Progress on four projects – two elementary schools, one high school and an addition – continues
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Edgewood Elementary is well-underway at 16666 23 Ave., behind the City of Surrey’s operations building. (Tracy Holmes photo)

As students head back to the books this month, a handful of school construction projects in South Surrey are already making the grade on progress.

Surrey School District spokesman Doug Strachan confirmed that all three new schools underway in the south end – Grandview Heights Secondary (16987 25 Ave.), Edgewood Drive Elementary (16666 23 Ave.) and a Douglas-area elementary (17335 2 Ave.) – are “on track as planned,” as is an addition to Pacific Heights Elementary (17148 26 Ave.).

Work on all four projects began earlier this year.

Furthest along among the four is the 12-classroom Pacific Heights addition, which was 30 per cent complete as of July 31, according to information on the Surrey School District’s website.

The $10.5-million, 300-seat project – one of five delayed by too-high bids – was approved by the province in December 2017, and is anticipated to be ready for occupancy in April 2020.

The $33-million Edgewood Drive Elementary, which broke ground this past February – directly behind the City of Surrey’s new South Surrey Operations Centre – is 22 per cent complete. If things remain on track, the 655-seat school will be ready for students in February 2021.

READ MORE: Frozen, but determined, start to new $33-million South Surrey school

The 605-seat, $33.1-million Douglas-area elementary, for which funding was announced in April 2018, was 18 per cent complete at the end of July, with occupancy targeted for January 2021.

The yet-to-be-named two-storey school – anticipated to relieve enrolment pressure at Hall’s Prairie, Pacific Heights and South Meridian elementaries – is being built adjacent to Dufferin Park.

Grandview Heights Secondary, meanwhile, with capacity for 1,500 students and approved in October 2016, is 11 per cent finished. Situated immediately northeast of the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre, its doors are anticipated to open to students in September 2021.

Construction costs of the school are estimated at $68 million.

READ MORE: Construction launched for South Surrey high school

Throughout the rest of Surrey, six other schools projects are underway, according to the school district’s list: Panorama Park Elementary addition (80 per cent complete); Maddaugh Road Elementary (30 per cent complete); Sullivan Elementary addition (five per cent); Mary Jane Shannon Elementary seismic upgrade (15 per cent); Coyote Creek Elementary addition (five per cent); and Frost Road Elementary addition (four per cent).

Several more new schools and additions are noted on the district’s website as projects ‘pending approval.’

In South Surrey, additions are sought for Sunnyside, Morgan, White Rock, Semiahmoo Trail and South Meridian elementaries, as well as for Semiahmoo Secondary.

The five-year capital plan priority list puts a Sunnyside Heights-area elementary at the top for new schools sought, followed by a Grandview Heights Elementary and a Redwood Heights-area elementary.

Minister of Education Rob Fleming in May announced $6 million in funding to “complete the assembly of the site needed to build a much-needed elementary school in the Sunnyside neighbourhood.”

A 630-seat school is slated for property at the corner of 20 Avenue and 165A Street.



tholmes@peacearchnews.com

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Work on the new, 1,500-seat Grandview Heights Secondary – delayed by ‘changing market conditions’ – began in May 2019. (Tracy Holmes photo)
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An expansion to Pacific Heights Elementary is targeted for April 2020 occupancy. (Tracy Holmes photo)


Tracy Holmes

About the Author: Tracy Holmes

Tracy Holmes has been a reporter with Peace Arch News since 1997.
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