The High Level Bridge in Lethbridge. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Funding announced for school construction, upgrades to Interfaith Food Bank and Lethbridge Courthouse

Nov 15, 2019 | 10:47 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Government of Alberta has released its 2019-2020 capital plan, which makes a few investments into Lethbridge.

LNN is in the process of reaching out to each of the impacted organizations to learn more and we will continue to update this story, but here is what we know right now.

Food Bank:

Executive Director Danielle McIntyre with the Interfaith Food Bank says they will be receiving a grant of $125,000, which will allow them to do the third phase of renovations.

They will expand and relocate their client services from the back of the building to the street front.

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“It’s going to give us a bigger and better client services area for our emergency food systems like the hampers and diabetic bundles and all of the emergency food access,” says McIntyre.

“In addition to that, it’s going to give us four meeting classrooms that will be used for outreach programs and other services we offer here at the food bank as well as for other agencies to offer their programming here.”

Renovations should be completed in March of 2020.

Courthouse:

The province will spend $2-million on upgrades and renovations to the courthouses in Lethbridge, Calgary, and Edmonton.

It is unclear how large of a share Lethbridge will get of that or what the money will be spent on.

University of Lethbridge:

$7-million will help to finish paying off the University of Lethbridge’s Destination Project.

It saw the construction of the new Science Commons building, which opened in September 2019.

Communications Manager Trevor Kenney says it is essentially an outstanding payment on the $280-million building.

South Side School:

The government announced ongoing support for the planning of a new school at 4510 Fairmont Gate South. LNN originally reported that it would be located along 13th Street South and 11th Ave South as that is what the provincial government stated.

The correction was made by Garrett Simmons with the Lethbridge School Division, who says they are hoping to have it open in the 2021-2022 school year. The currently-unnamed school has a total budget of $20.4-million and will have the capacity for 600 students.

Right now, the school is 25% complete and is on budget. The school will feature solar panels and an enlarged gymnasium of 200 square meters.

D.A. Ferguson / W.R. Myers School:

A document from the province also mentioned construction at D.A. Ferguson / W.R. Myers in Taber but did not detail what it was for.

Associate Superintendent with the Horizon School Division Philip Johansen says phase two of their upgrades are well underway and should be finished within the next month or so. It will see the electrical and mechanical systems being upgraded.

As far as what this specific announcement from the Alberta government might have been, Johansen was not sure as they already have all the funding they needed.