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STACY SQUIRES / THINGS / Things
The main and technology blocks of Christchurch Girls’ High School will be rebuilt, while the arts block will be renovated.
The Ministry of Education has reversed its decision to repair the main block of Christchurch Girls’ High School after a $ 7.5 million effort to strengthen it.
The school is among 115 in the greater Christchurch area damaged by earthquakes that the government in 2013 said would be replaced or repaired over the next 10 years as part of a $ 1.3 billion education rebuilding program.
According to the original schedule, 95 schools were due to be completed by the end of this year, but only 56 have been completed so far and 21 are under construction.
STACY SQUIRES / THINGS
Work at Christchurch Girls’ High School should have ended in mid-2020, but was stopped in April 2019.
Repairs were expected to cost around $ 27 million, and as of October 1, 2020, just over $ 7.5 million had been spent on the main block before work was stopped in April 2019.
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Five years ago, the ministry was told that it would be cheaper to rebuild the main block rather than repair it, and the school had advocated for a new block to be built away from less stable land at the current site along the Avon River.
But instead, the ministry spent about $ 7 million to strengthen the building.
Now he has backed down and agreed to tear it down and rebuild it.
Construction work on the main block and two others will begin in 2022, more than two years after the project was supposed to be completed.
Following a recent meeting between the Ministry of Education and the school’s board of trustees, it was decided that the best way forward was to rebuild both the main and technological blocks and renovate the arts block.
Staff and students will continue to use the main block while the new facilities are designed and built, said the ministry’s head of educational infrastructure, Kim Shannon.
The school welcomed the announcement despite the fact that a former staff member had previously criticized the ministry’s handling of the process, saying it lacked transparency and “made decisions that defy common sense.”
Iain McGregor / Stuff
Director Christine O’Neill said she was “excited” that progress had been made in what was a “very long process.”
Director Christine O’Neill said the main and technology blocks along the Avon River would be rebuilt away from the river on “stronger ground” and the arts block was expected to be renovated.
The blocks will predominantly house food science and technology classrooms and laboratories. Planning will begin early next year and construction is likely to begin in late 2022.
O’Neill was “excited” about the progress and said the school’s relationship with the ministry was “positive.”
“It has been a very long process with a very difficult site, but we are really delighted with the result.
“We really want to offer a modern environment for girls in the city and we are very lucky that it is a beautiful place.”
The ministry’s original 10-year program consisted of the construction of 13 new schools, the reconstruction of 10 schools on existing sites, the major redevelopment of 34 schools, and the moderate development of 58 schools.
Among the delayed projects are the new Banks Avenue school site, the rebuilding of Burnside Primary, and a major development at Cobham Intermediate, all of which were due to be completed in 2017.
Of the incomplete projects, 21 are under construction and 17 will be completed in the next 12 months; 36 are in the planning and design stage; two have yet to begin.
The 44 public schools not included in the plan suffered no or only minor earthquake damage.
