Of the 10 schools with them, six will have theirs knocked down
Jul 02, 2009 - 02:33 PM
By Crystal Crimi
DURHAM -- The wrecking ball's swinging toward Catholic school board portables this summer.
Of the 10 schools in the Durham Catholic District School Board with portables, six schools are getting their relocatable classroom modules demolished. Two of those schools, St. Joseph's in Uxbridge and St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in Ajax are getting theirs replaced with six-classroom additions.
Whitby Trustee Mary Ann Martin asked if the board could sell any of the unsuitable portables to people wanting to gut them and use them for other purposes.
"These units, no pun intended, will literally go out in a box," said Tim Robins, assistant superintendent of facilities services.
Scheduled for demolition in the next couple of weeks are the four portable classrooms at St. Marguerite in Pickering, six at St. Anthony Daniel in Pickering, and six at St. James - all of which were closed in March because of mould. Immaculate Conception in Port Perry will also have its one portable destroyed.
The six portable classrooms at each of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Joseph Catholic schools are getting their portables replaced with six-classroom additions, with construction to start July 1, 2010, and occupancy planned for Jan. 1, 2011. The additions support enrolment projections over the next 15 years.
St. Joseph's portables will be destroyed this summer and replaced with temporary accommodation because of failing roofing, Mr. Robins said.
Demolition costs for the five schools' portables are estimated around $650,000, plus engineering fees of almost $80,000.
St. Catherine of Siena will receive mould abatement for about $34,000 to hold it over until the new addition is complete.
The rest of the board's schools with portables will also receive mould abatement and repair: St. Jude in Ajax for $45,000; St. Paul in Whitby for $44,000; St. Bernard in Whitby for $224,375 and Our Lady of the Bay in Pickering for $33,690.
Durham Catholic District School Board currently has 50 portables at 10 schools, most of which date back to the mid-1980s.
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