Hammond Bay elementary school is receiving several upgrades designed to modernize the school and provide enrolment relief elsewhere in the district. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

new classrooms

Construction begins on $16m project to expand Hammond Bay Elementary

Feb 9, 2021 | 10:51 AM

NANAIMO — A north Nanaimo elementary school is undergoing a substantial expansion.

The ministry of education on Tuesday, Feb. 9 announced construction had begun at Hammond Bay Elementary to add 12 classrooms and increase the capacity by nearly 300 students.

Leslie Sansalone, chair of the Ecole Hammond Bay Elementary parent advisory council, said it will ease congestion at the busy school.

“This will mean being able to move classes out of portables and into a permanent building. It’s very exciting French immersion will be available to more families in the school district.”

It’s one of three French immersion schools within the district.

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In 2019, when the province doubled the size of the project to 12 classrooms, Hammond Bay Elementary was over capacity by roughly 150 students who were housed in five portables.

“This school needs renewal, it’s not the right size for this community,” then-education minister Rob Fleming told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Construction was substantially delayed in the project. Ground was set to be broken in 2019 and finished in time to start the 2021 school year.

It’s now expected to be finished in February 2022.

The province is putting forward more than $14.5 million, joined by the school district’s $1.25 million.

In 2019, Fleming claimed the cost of the project would be handled solely by the provincial government.

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