Friday, March 29, 2024

Vic High construction completion date pushed back by a year

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The completion of upgrades to B.C.’s oldest high school has been delayed by another year, the school district announced Monday.

Seismic upgrades and an expansion to Victoria High School have been underway since late summer 2020 and were expected to be completed in September 2022.

The Greater Victoria School District now says that completion date has been moved to September 2023.

In a statement, the District says the delays have been caused by unexpected conditions stemming from the age of the school, as well as issues with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“There have been several challenges over the past year that have extended the seismic project’s timeline, including labour and material pressures due to COVID-19 and a building boom in Victoria,” said Superintendent Shelley Green.

“We expected there to be a few surprises when we started opening the walls of a school built over a century ago but we did not anticipate the market pressures on resources and labour availability.”

The total project cost was slated at approximately $80 million, with the province kicking in the majority of the cost with $77.1 million and the District providing $2.6 million.

In addition to seismic upgrades, the project includes a 200-seat expansion to the school property. Crews also are working to keep historic elements such as the building’s exterior granite, terracotta and brick masonry.

Currently, Vic High’s students have been relocated to the former SJ Willis school site at 923 Topaz Avenue.

The District says these students will remain at this site until June 2023, before a transition to Vic High in September 2023.

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Victoria Buzz Staffhttps://www.victoriabuzz.com
Your inside source for Greater Victoria happenings. Established in 2012.

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