School District 70 has received a $350,000 provincial grant to help pay for a new HVAC system at Wood Elementary School.
As part of the province’s School Enhancement Program, the government has allocated more than $20 million worth of improvement projects to schools throughout the province.
School districts were asked to identify priorities for improvement projects
to support healthy, efficient schools for students, teachers and staff.
An HVAC system provides heating and cooling services to a building—HVAC stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
The grant will help pay for the first phase of HVAC replacement at Wood Elementary.
“The $350,000 is basically for us to purchase the equipment we need, finish the design of the project and basically get to tender readiness,” Greg Roe, SD70 operations manager said.
Phase 2 of the project, which would involve the actual installation of the system, is estimated to cost an additional $750,000.
“In the next fiscal year we’ll be submitting for the balance of the project and to actually form the work,” Roe said.
Roe said this project has been on the district’s agenda for close to five years and the last time Wood saw a new HVAC system was about 10 years ago.
“For this project for Wood specifically it’s replacing unit ventilators which are basically like a furnace unit in each classroom,” Roe said. “Those units are probably 15 years old.”
Although the money was awarded to Wood Elementary School, Roe said other priorities that were submitted to the ministry for funding included a new HVAC system for Maquinna Elementary School and a couple of roofing projects.
According to the provincial government’s website, successful projects are chosen based on need, priority and how well they support student learning and safety. Approved projects must cost between $100,000 and $3 million.
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