St. Francis Xavier School. (Photo Courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Brendan Miller

Design funding to replace St. Francis Xavier School approved in 2023 budget

Mar 1, 2023 | 5:07 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The province gave details on 58 new and modernized school projects they will be investing in following the announcement of the 2023 budget.

Only one project received capital funding for Medicine Hat, the replacement of St. Francis Xavier School.

Soon the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education will be looking to design a new school to replace St. Francis Xavier School.

Superintendent of schools with the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education Dr. Dwayne Zarichny says they are planning to consolidate three schools, St. Mary’s, St. Michael’s and St. Francis Xavier together under one brand new roof.

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“The idea there is that with the consolidation, if the student population was large enough then the building would warrant getting a large gym facilities, CTS (career and technology studies) suites and so on,” says Zarichny.

“It also makes the addition of a theater and fiscal literacy space a lot easier for the government to provide,” adds Zarichny.

Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says under the 2023 budget the Catholic school board will now enter a design funding process with the government.

“This design investment demonstrates our full commitment to these school projects. A design funding approval provides sufficient funding for the project to be fully designed for construction tender documents to be prepared and to capture project expenses like permit applications,” said LaGrange.

If the design is approved by the government the new school building will provide students with several new facilities to enhance learning.

Zarichny says the new school would benefit all students in the surrounding area.

“This project is really exciting because it will expand the offerings to our students and not only that for the schools that are impacted in the consolidation but also for students of senior mccoy because of course they also get access to the theater and fiscal literacy center.” says Zarichny.

The Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education is awaiting final numbers and details from the government, they hope to receive in the coming weeks.

Once the design process is complete the project will then seek full funding from the government before shovels hit the dirt and construction on a new school can begin.