New fall setting for school board
Employees to move into Burnside offices in October
By JENNIFER CHARLEBOIS
Mon, Aug 30 - 4:53 AM
The Halifax regional school board will move into refurbished space and a new addition at 33 Spectacle Lake Dr. in Burnside in October. The move will consolidate board offices now in two locations and will include meeting space for staff development, which will save the board rental fees. (Staff)
This fall, the Halifax regional school board will be trading its familiar Dartmouth waterfront view for a lakeside view in Burnside.
Charles Clattenburg, director of operations services, confirmed last week that the renovated and revamped offices at Park Place Lakeside are nearly completed.
"They are now just putting the (finishing touches) inside the building to prepare for us," he said in an interview.
The lease will consolidate board administrative staff from Dartmouth and Cole Harbour in the new location at 33 Spectacle Lake Dr.
This will allow for better communication, as well as savings in operational and technical costs, said Clattenburg. In addition, building-to-building travel costs for staff on an ongoing basis will be eliminated.
The three-storey office complex will house approximately 240 staff. The new building will also serve as a professional development centre, and plans call for a number of training rooms and lecture areas. This will save the board from renting spaces for development functions, he said.
In addition to 30,000 square feet of existing building, renovation plans call for a 30,000-square-foot addition that will include both above- and below-ground parking.
The board has a 15-year lease with Armour Group for the facilities and will pay $1.4 million annually.
Clattenburg said the board has been "working with staff, trying to show them what the offices are going to be looking like and that sort of thing."
The layout in the new building will be an open concept. "We’re having the work stations at a fairly low level so exterior light can penetrate into the building so staff can enjoy the daylight," he said.
The new location has been registered for the Canada Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
"They (the Armour Group) have changed the building from electric heat to gas heat," he said, nothing that the building will follow strict guidelines in terms of controlling recycling and recovering heat, among other environmental considerations.
Moving day is tentatively set for the end of October. Until then, the majority of school board employees will remain at the old Dartmouth city hall location on a month-to-month lease extension.
(
jcharlebois@herald.ca)