St. Anthony’s targets 2012 for new school opening

Due to construction delays, the opening of the new St. Anthony’s School has now been pushed to 2012.

    Over the past year, the new school, on North Dinosaur Trail, has seen a number of setbacks. Most notable was parting ways with the original contractor. This week Michael O’Brien, Superintendent of Schools for Christ the Redeemer School Division, sent a letter to parents of students at St. Anthony’s updating them on the progress.
    “While we cannot provide an exact completion date, we are hopeful the new school will open sometime in early 2012. We will move into the new school as soon as it is ready and reasonable to do so,” he stated in the letter.
    inSide Drumheller reported in March that Christ the Redeemer School Division and CANA Construction were working on a deal to see the completion of the project.
    “After terminating the previous contractor, time was required to work with the insurance (bonding) company to identify a suitable replacement contractor. This took a great deal of time, mostly due to legal requirements. However, with due diligence, patience and many prayers, we were very fortunate to attract and retain an excellent general contractor,” said O’Brien.
    An agreement with CANA has since been inked. Before an agreement was in place, the company was on site.
     “We are now working very closely with CANA to determine what deficiencies require repair before we proceed with the completion of the school,” said O’Brien.
    “It is very important that we thoroughly inspect the school and identify all deficiencies so they may be corrected and the school can be properly constructed. CANA has already done an excellent job of cleaning up and organizing the construction site. It is also our opinion that the majority of deficiencies have been identified and the pace of construction should soon start to accelerate.”