Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board | ? | 2 fl | Complete

[thomax]

Photo taken today by me:

Source: My Photo

[thomax]

.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Institutional. Couldn't think of a better style.

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by pEte fiSt iN Ur fAce

^Institutional. Couldn't think of a better style.

[mattgrande]

I still can't believe it's only two stories... I wish it had some height to it.

[thomax]

Originally Posted by mattgrande

I still can't believe it's only two stories... I wish it had some height to it.

It's 3 stories (still not much height to it), the thread name needs to be updated.




[LINK] CBC Hamilton - Work in progress on Hamilton's new Education Centre

By: Samantha Craggs, CBC News

The foundation is being poured on the public school board's new Education Centre, a $31.6-million project due for completion next summer.

The new headquarters of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board will be a three-level complex at 50 Millwood Pl. By June, those passing by should see crews doing steelwork on the building.

With Ministry of Education funding guidelines to adhere to, the project has a strict timeline, said Melissa Cohen-White, facilities project manager.

“It's a reasonable schedule,” she said. “It's tight but it's doable. You just can't allow things to slip.”

Brantford firm +VG Architects is designing the building, which is 137,000 square feet over three levels. The firm is also working on a school board office in Waterloo. Buttcon Ltd. of Concord, Ont. is the construction manager.

Trustees heard plans for the Education Centre at an information meeting Monday evening. Vice-chair Robert Barlow wanted to see as many local contractors and subcontractors as possible, “especially in this city when people need work.”

The board follows provincial guidelines that apply to public sector organizations such as municipalities, universities, school boards and hospitals, said Don Grant, superintendent of business services.

The local nature of the contractors is one of the factors, but not the only one, Grant said.

“The school board cannot arbitrarily state that we will only accept local contract work,” he said.

The new centre will incorporate a few elements from the old building at 100 Main St. W., such as the concrete frieze above the door.

It will be “inspired by the heroic modernism of your previous building and the progressive nature of your board,” said Paul Sapounzi, architect with +VG.

The new building will save the board money, including cutting energy costs by about 25 per cent, Sapounzi said. These efficiencies are necessary to help pay for the construction.

“We're reducing operating costs enough to fund this building,” he said. “Part of that equation is savings on energy costs.”

The board briefly considered locating the new headquarters at the former Cannon Knitting Mills site downtown.

McMaster is building a new downtown health campus on the old school board site. The project, scheduled to open next summer, is on time and on budget, spokesperson Gord Arbeau said.

Recent progress:
- The excavation on the site is finished and the backfilling is 75 per cent complete.
- Crews have completed pouring the concrete foundation and basement walls.
- The ground floor slab is 80 per cent complete.
- The framing of the second floor is underway.

[thomax]

[LINK] thespec.com - Plans to include Mohawk Trail school museum at new education centre shelved

By: Daniel Nolan

The old Mohawk Trail school will not become part of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s new $31.6-million education centre on the central mountain — at least in the foreseeable future.

Business superintendent Don Grant told trustees Monday night the plan to move the historic 1882 school from its Mohawk Road West location on the west Mountain to the centre’s Millwood Place location has been put on the back burner because of a whole series of issues.

“At this point in time, we don’t see it as feasible to include Mohawk Trail in the new Education Centre,” Grant said at an information session on designs for the new building.

He did not want to discredit the idea, but Grant said such issues as cost, heritage, the timeline and “finally to make the two issues gel with each other” put it on the back burner.

The original plan was for the one-room schoolhouse to be relocated to the courtyard at the back of the new centre. A consulting firm had determined the move was feasible. The school was converted into a museum in 1967 as a Centennial project.

Paul Sapounzi, a Brantford partner of +VG Architects took trustees on a tour of the new two-storey centre via the designs. It was the first time trustees had seen interior designs for the building, which is being built on the site of Crestwood high school. The school has been demolished and the new centre is under construction. Sapounzi said it is set for completion July 2014.

Trustees generally liked what they saw in the designs, which include a new board room capable of holding 70 people, a conference area that can be expanded to hold 100 people and a room featuring artifacts and furniture from the old education centre that stood across from Hamilton City Hall. There will be an open staircase in the front lobby that Sapounzi hopes can be used as a presentation area, an exhibition place for student artwork, or a meeting place for classrooms visiting the building.

“It’s very exciting we have a hole in the ground and designs to look at,” said Dundas trustee Jessica Brennan. “I really appreciate what I think is an echo to the old Education Centre.”

“It’s exciting times,” remarked Ward 8 trustee Wes Hicks. “We started this in 2007.”

Hicks, however, raised the issue of installing a wellness centre for staff. Some of the other trustees also raised questions about the design of the board room. They liked the layout of the city council chamber — where they are presently meeting — in that they can look at each other eye to eye.

“It’s all doable stuff,” Sapounzi said afterwards. “The spaces are there for that.”

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by MeIsThomas

It's 3 stories (still not much height to it), the thread name needs to be updated.

Eh, I'll update it once I'm back from my vacation in Cancun.

[Dahyno]

They should have renovated the old building.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Eh, I'll update it once I'm back from my vacation in Cancun.

Lucky bugger.

Fly out of Hamilton, did you?

[SteelTown]

Always. It's so much less stressful than Pearson.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

You got it. I love using Munro.

[realcity]

Still off topic, but this project is boring. What are the chances Porter will fly out of YHM?

[thomax]

Photo taken today, by me:


Source: My Photo

[Dr Awesomesauce]

These HWDSB updates are a little depressing.

[movingtohamilton]

Originally Posted by realcity

still off topic, but this project is boring. What are the chances porter will fly out of yhm?

slim to none.

[SteelTown]

One-room schoolhouse to be part of board’s HQ
ByTeri Pecoskie

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/28...of-board-s-hq/

The old Mohawk Trail school is getting a new home, but public school trustees don't know how they're going to pay for it.

On Monday, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board agreed to move the historic one-room schoolhouse from the west Mountain to the board's new $32-million headquarters near Lime Ridge Mall.

The plan is to spend up to $1 million relocating and restoring the building, which was built in 1882 and converted to a museum in 1967.

"I would hope that if I lived to 131, someone would want to take care of me," said Laura Peddle, the trustee behind the motion.

The challenge, however, will be finding money to do it.

Since the project was not included in the Education Centre budget, trustees will have fund it through other sources. And provincial policies prevent them from tapping into operational funds or school divestitures.

"There's no funding sources that I'm aware of at this point," superintendent Don Grant told trustees.

A staff report recommends fundraising as a solution for covering the gap. The added benefit, the report says, is that it gives the public an opportunity to participate in the decision.

Wes Hicks, the lone trustee who voted against the motion, supported fundraising for the building's restoration.

He didn't, however, back the move.

"That's part of the heritage, the location of the building," he said. "To move it would be a travesty."

The board voted Monday to pour a $96,500 concrete slab for the school behind the new Education Centre. Staff are expected to come back with a funding strategy for the project by September.

[movingtohamilton]

The HWDSB trustees and staff have collectively missed their calling as comedians. Sanford School gets demolished, Scott Park is quickly becoming a financial fiasco. Now staff recommends fund-raising for the 1-room schoolhouse because, in part, "it gives the public an opportunity to participate in the decision."

I'm personally going to pass the hat when HWDSB appears at the comedy club.

[mattgrande]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

"I would hope that if I lived to 131, someone would want to take care of me," said Laura Peddle, the trustee behind the motion.

Peddle seems to be one of the (very few) trustees that gives any form of thought to heritage. Only her and Mulholland voted against destroying Sanford.

[movingtohamilton]

Then let the rest of the HWDSB Comedy Troupe do some actual real fund-raising. Set up tables at malls, etc. Expend some sweat, face the public. Do not get staff to write some clever application for a grant.