Langley’s school district has some big construction projects on the horizon, according to five-year capital plans released at its first fall meeting.
In September, the province announced it would fund $67.1 million in projects, including a new 1,500 space secondary school in Willoughby, the conversion of R.E. Mountain into a Grade 6-8 middle school, expanding R.C. Garnett Elementary, and buying land in the Latimer area for another future elementary.
“Now we’re looking for money to build a school on that piece of land,” said David Green, the school district’s secretary-treasurer.
The five-year financial plan includes a request to the province for the cash to actually build that school, in 2021/22.
There is also a request in the capital plan to find a piece of land in the southwest Yorkson area.
That land would be used to build a replacement for the existing Willoughby Elementary.
“It’s about the location,” Green said. The school is currently on a busy intersection. “Plus the school is surrounded by commercial development,” he said.
It is a valuable piece of land. The province doesn’t fund replacement schools, only new ones, so the district will have to use funding from the eventual sale of the site towards a new site and construction.
However, there is no timeline on the project, and no immediate plan to sell the site and move.
Another major item in the plan will be seismic upgrades planned for portions of R.E. Mountain. Those will be done when the school is converted into a middle school, Green said.
As far as properties for sale, Murrayville Elementary is up for grabs.
Green could not comment on how much the district is asking for the site.