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Funding sought for 11 high priority school projects in Coquitlam

Millions of dollars in school repairs, additions, playgrounds and new buildings eyed for Coquitlam area schools but Port Moody, Port Coquitlam not left out as playgrounds, repairs on the books
Diane Strandberg
Diane Strandberg
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Dr. Charles Best recently got a new mural; plans are in the works for major construction to expand and upgrade the school building. (Principal Heather Murphy is shown here with the mural artist Dean Lauzé.)Janis Cleugh/File photo

School District 43 (SD43) is planning for a school-building spree, but construction will be spread unevenly across the Tri-Cities.

Coquitlam will see the bulk of the capital projects to match its projected population growth, specifically on Burke Mountain and in Burquitlam — plus future mega developments in the City Centre neighbourhood — where thousands of homes are expected to go up over the next five years.

Consequently, all 11 of the district’s highest-priority projects in the recently approved 2022/’23 capital plan are in Coquitlam. They are:

Seismic mitigation program projects: 

  • Montgomery Middle: 550-student capacity seismic replacement with a neighbourhood learning centre (NLC), $57.9 million
  • Maple Creek Middle: 600-capacity seismic replacement with NLC at $62 million
  • Dr. Charles Best Secondary: seismic partial replacement and upgrade at $40.4 million 

Expansion projects: 

  • Burke Mountain Secondary: middle/secondary school at $117 million
  • NE Coquitlam: Middle school and NLC at $60 million

Addition projects:

  • Scott Creek Middle: 10 classrooms at $14.6 million
  • Maple Creek Middle: 10 classrooms, 250 capacity at $19 million
  • Dr. Charles Best Secondary: (in support of added capacity for the seismic project) 300 capacity, 12 classrooms at $21 million

Site Acquisition

  • Fraser Mills Elementary: 80 kindergarten, 375 elementary and NLC (land acquisition only) at $21 million

Replacement projects:

  • Como Lake Middle: replacement of existing school for grades 6 to 8 and NLC at $55 million
  • Nestor Elementary: replacement of existing school with 100 kindergarten/475 capacity at $47 million

MORE SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECTS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT 43

Meanwhile, School District 43 has already received funding for a $37.2 million-replacement school for Moody Elementary located in downtown Port Moody.

Plans are also in the works for $400,000 worth of electrical upgrades at Port Moody Secondary and the second phase of a building upgrade for Pleasantside Elementary, costing $1.1 million.

Port Coquitlam, which recently saw the long-awaited Minnekhada Middle School rebuilt, and a new school approved for Irvine Elementary, will see a universally accessible playground constructed at Minnekhada at a cost of $165,000.

And R.C MacDonald Elementary school in Coquitlam is also getting a universally accessible playground while building envelope repairs are planned for these Coquitlam schools: Mountain Meadows, Bramblewood, Pinetree Way and Roy Stibbs. 

NEW CONSTRUCTION FORESEEN FOR THE TRI-CITIES

Here’s the number of units projected for the next five years in the most recent Eligible School Site Proposal used to base developer’s contributions to school building (the information is supplied by the cities and is used to base the need for land to build new schools, for the years 2021/’22 to 2025/’26):

  • Coquitlam: 11,851 units
  • Port Coquitlam: 1,300 units
  • Port Moody: 3,955 units