PRINCE ALBERT - Premier Scott Moe and Carrot River Valley MLA Fred Bradshaw joined students, staff and representatives of North East School Division on Sept. 23 to celebrate the official beginning of construction on a new school for Carrot River.
The school will replace and consolidate Carrot River Elementary and Carrot River High schools. It is scheduled to open by 2024.
Moe said the new school will become a hub for the community.
“You see how involved the community has been in fundraising to add elements to this school, but also just involved in insuring the facility is going to service the community appropriately,” he told reporters after the ground breaking. “This is a great day for Carrot River, a great day for Saskatchewan. (There is) everything to look forward to for the decades ahead with the new school facility here.”
The new school project will attach to the existing high school gym, which was constructed as an addition to the current high school in 2005. Saskatchewan-based company Wright Construction will lead the project, with an estimated cost of $28.4 million, of which the government is contributing $25.7 million. The remaining costs are being contributed by the community and the school division.
The community has done numerous fundraisers to help add on to the new school.
“It has also been on the mind of the local MLA (Bradshaw) for a number of years, a graduate of this school from some years ago and an ardent supporter of the Carrot River Wildcats football program,” Moe added. “Most certainly it has been on the mind of the community for a long time.”
The approximately 4,400 square metre facility is just over half the size of a CFL football field, accommodating up to 400 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
The division expects to open the school in February 2024.
The new school will be a modern facility featuring state-of-the-art classrooms and an expanded Practical and Applied Arts area with funding from the community and the school division.
"I would like to thank the Government of Saskatchewan and Premier for the investment in our new Carrot River school," North East School Division Board Chair Kevin Graham said in a press release.
"We look forward to the school opening and all of the ways the new facility will support the programming and learning opportunities for our students in years to come."
Since 2008, the Government of Saskatchewan has committed approximately $2.3 billion toward school infrastructure projects. These projects include 57 new schools and 28 major renovation projects, and two projects approved through the new Minor Capital Renewal Program.
Moe was happy to be in Carrot River.
“It means everything for me, I'm the most fortunate person in the province, I get to drop into Carrot River to talk to a community celebrating a new school infrastructure such as this. In another day, like I said, there are 19 projects like this under way so I get to stop in another community. I'm blessed most certainly to help communities celebrate this type of infrastructure.”
