Sangster Elementary School is getting back to normal with the completion of an 18-month, $2.1-million seismic refit that saw four classrooms, a number of key walls and a section of the roof made earthquake-ready.
During construction, students and staff at the Sooke school district facility had to adjust by being temporarily relocated from the annex, where the work was done.
“We had four classrooms move into the main building, taking up both the library and the computer lab for four months,” district chairwoman Wendy Hobbs said. “And the Grade 6 class also had to move to a portable at Dunsmuir [from] which they had to walk back-and-forth daily for lunch, P.E., music and library.”
Dunsmuir Middle School is a few blocks away, and is the next school in the district slated for seismic work.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender visited Sangster recently to talk about the project with Grade 2 and 3 students before joining them in the gym for a game of basketball. He told the students that the refit was planned by his ministry and school-district staff “to make sure that your school is as safe as we possibly can make it.”
Sangster principal Maureen Lauren said it felt good to have the annex back for everyday use.
“Walking into this building is still putting a smile on our faces,” she said. “Our staff and students went without some essentials in the school, but we’re back now, we’re happy to be settled.”
District superintendent Jim Cambridge said it was the newer portion of the school that had to be fixed.
“Ironically, the new part of the building needed to be upgraded for safety reasons and the old part of the building is just fine.”
The 1950s wing of the school was made from wood and is in good seismic shape, while the newer annex was fashioned from cinder blocks and needed to be strengthened, he said.
At Dunsmuir, the overall cost for the required seismic upgrade will be up to $8 million.
The next district elementary schools scheduled for seismic work are Willway and Ruth King.
Cambridge said Dunsmuir is a “significant project” and the design phase is underway.
