Lanigan's high school will soon be replaced by a new K-12 facility (submitted photo/Horizon School Division)

By Cam Lee

Lanigan school replacement

‘It’s extremely exciting’: new K-12 school to be built in Lanigan

Jun 24, 2020 | 3:30 PM

The community of Lanigan will soon have a new school to call their own.

The provincial government announced on June 23 they would provide $110.5 million for six new major infrastructure projects for school divisions across Saskatchewan.

One of the projects will be a new kindergarten to Grade 12 school in Lanigan, to replace the current elementary school and high school.

Horizon School Division Director of Education Kevin Garinger called the announcement “extremely exciting.”

“A wonderful opportunity of course for the community of Lanigan and surrounding area, and of course for our board of education, and Horizon School Division as a whole,” Garinger told northeastNOW. “[I] just can’t thank the Ministry [of Education] enough for looking at this project, and looking at it as a real opportunity to enhance the community of Lanigan, and certainly enhance Horizon School Division.”

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Garinger said the facility will likely hold between 400 and 500 students, and will support the needs for students from kindergarten right through Grade 12.

He said the current schools are showing their age. Lanigan Central was built in 1956, while Lanigan Elementary was constructed nine years later.

Lanigan’s current elementary school opened its doors in 1965. (submitted photo/Horizon School Division)

“[Replacement] has certainly been something the board has talked about for a while now and we’ve had it on their capital plan and of course is a project that met the needs of the Ministry in terms of looking at these types of capital projects that school divisions have submitted,” Garinger said.

Consolidating the schools makes sense, Garinger said, considering the age of the current buildings. He said there are a number of replacements and upgrades required on the facilities. According to Garinger, having a new school will avoid having to piece together two aging buildings for a long period of time.

He said he has seen a few newer schools built in the province, and it’s exciting to know that one will soon be built in Lanigan.

“There’s a great deal of uniqueness to them now that certainly allows you to do things in a completely different way than what the old facilities would allow for,” Garinger said.

He thanked the Ministry of Education for the announcement, and the division’s board of education for its support by ensuring the project stayed on the Ministry’s radar.

Construction of the new facility is expected to take about a year, according to Garinger, and the hope is to have the project completed sometime in 2023.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974