Premier Scott Moe , flanked by Ken Cheveldayoff, MLA, Minister of Central Services (originally from Blaine Lake), left, and Delbert Kirsch, MLA Batoche, were among the dignitaries at the announcement for the start of planning and design at the Blaine Lake school. Second row: Sam Dyck, Prairie Spirit Board Chair, Gord Wyant, Minister of Education, Jessica Barrington, Vice-Principal of Blaine Lake Composite School. Third row: Al Sorensen, Mayor of Blaine Lake, Ken Crush, Prairie Spirit Board of Education Vice-Chair, Brad Nichol, Prairie Spirit Superintendent; Lori Jeschke, Director of Education, Prairie Spirit School Division and Sean Lockwood, Principal of Blaine Lake Composite School. (Submitted / Prairie Spirit School Division)

By Glenn Hicks

new school

Planning underway for new Blaine Lake school

Sep 14, 2020 | 5:00 PM

An exciting future awaits students, staff and the community of Blaine Lake. The beginning of planning and design of the new $9.5 million Kindergarten to Grade 12 school has been announced by the provincial government.

The existing school in the community located midway between Prince Albert and the Battlefords was built in 1954. The provincial government said construction is scheduled to start next year with completion expected in 2023.

Sean Lockwood, the principal for the past four years, said the community deserves a new facility.

“We need this very badly, “he told paNOW. “Our school is seeing its last ending to its journey. It has been a great school, but with change new things will come.”

Lockwood hoped the community would work collaboratively on those new elements to include modern spaces for all sorts of in-school and after-school activities.

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“We’d like to see more sports and events going on… which also helps local businesses when you can host big basketball and volleyball tournaments. That can really help bring the community economy up,” he explained.

He noted they like to keep the kids busy with sports and are historically an athletic community with an excellent football program in partnership with Hafford, 25 minutes away.

“Also we want the arts and other activities to be looked at. And in our shop we build ready-made cabins that our journeyman construction teacher does with the students, so we’ll definitely look into investing a lot into having a proper shop where kids can learn those trades.”

The new school will accommodate up to 150 K to 12 students.

Premier Scott Moe was joined by other dignitaries for the formal announcement Monday. In a media release the government said the new school was part of the government’s $7.5 billion two-year capital plan to build a strong Saskatchewan and stimulate economic recovery following the pandemic.

The total cost of the new Blaine Lake school is expected to be approximately $9.5 million.

“Infrastructure investments make Saskatchewan communities stronger so we are excited to move ahead with this project,” Moe said. “The new school will serve the students, school staff and community members of Blaine Lake for many years to come.”

The Ministry of Education is in the process of hiring a project manager to complete the design and planning phase.

“The Prairie Spirit Board of Education would like to thank the Minister of Education and the provincial government for the commitment to build a new school to serve our students and the community of Blaine Lake,” Prairie Spirit Board Chair Sam Dyck said. “We know this new school will offer exciting learning opportunities to our students, our staff and the community.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca