RDA confident in finishing new ESHS buildings for September
The Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) said it is very confident the construction of new school buildings at the Elmore Stoutt High School in Lower Estate campus will be completed by the beginning of the new academic year in September.
This assurance comes amid a heightened sense of eagerness among educational stakeholders to finally relocate the school’s senior students and teachers from the Clarence Thomas Ltd (CTL) building at Pasea Estate.
Floyd Stoutt, one of the lead RDA officers on the project noted the agency has been putting measures in place to ensure it meets the deadline given.
“Again, no one knows what the future holds. We are dealing with COVID times. COVID times have been not the best in terms of the shipping industry by itself and I am sure the public is aware of that. But here at the RDA, we are confident that we are putting as many measures as possible in place,” Stoutt said.
“For example, us taking on the procurement of some of these long-lead items. These are things that we are putting in place to meet and try to stay ahead of any of those negative aspects that may try to interfere with the project deliverable day. So, yes, we are pretty confident,” he added.
Stoutt said the RDA shares some of the same concerns as persons regarding the procurement, shipping, and availability of some items that may be crucial to the completion of the buildings. For that reason, he disclosed the RDA has made the decision of maintaining the same windows and doors that are on the existing school buildings.
“We already know we have a good manufacturer and a set of specifications. So, our means of procuring those should not be that extensive. We are in tandem with the ministry in terms of locating what furniture they have at present and what furniture they will need. We are conducting an audit to ensure we can outfit this new facility with all the requirements needed in terms of furnishing. So, we are doing our part, we are diligent, we are putting our best foot forward to ensure we meet our targeted deadlines,” Stoutt added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Youth Affairs, Dr Natalio Wheatley added that his government is prepared to ensure the senior students will return to the Lower Estate campus for the new academic year as the CTL building is not conducive to teaching and learning.
“I want to let persons know that we are laser-focused on getting this project delivered on time and on budget for the benefit of our children, our teachers, and administrators,” Wheatley said.
The construction of the buildings is being undertaken in different phases according to the RDA. It is currently at the pre-qualification of contractors stage.
Stoutt said the RDA will be sending out the designs for tender submission to the qualified contractors by the end of February.
Construction is expected to begin in March and the project is expected to be completed by the end of August. The new buildings are expected to comprise a technical block, two classroom blocks (north and south), and an administrative block.
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Where is the Gym? and the court house should be transformed into an admin/security building while after being relocated to an appropriate location
I ain’t see sufficient parking or no pull off for the school buses to do drop offs and pick ups
Go back to the drawing board
In my view the image is not showing the true space of the property at hand.
where is the library/resource center?
where are the music rooms?
Is the technical building large enough to host Woodwork, auto mechanics, cosmetology, culinary arts, Clothing & Textiles, Marine, plumbing, electrical, architecture?
There needs to be a proper PE indoor section for when it rains that has a basketball and volleyball court in one. Check out all the other schools in USA.Make prep and do it great one time.
Constructed by the start of the new school year….. seriously! Which academic year are we talking about? #RealityCheck
The design of the junior school building will make it very hot when electricity goes off or the AC stops working (maintenance). Reconsider it’s design. Let’s be practical. Tortola is a very hot place and the students constantly complain about the heat in the L-shaped building as most rooms are without AC. Let’s reconsider the design.
The time frame for completion of the project is totally unrealistic. I will be surprised if it gets started by August of this year
Perhaps some tents will go up
Technical block added will put too many children in one concentrated area…
Where is the Traffic plan for this new design
They have not even put out the tender documents yet, but they say construction will start in March. Thats six weeks away. Other bloggers point out the apparent shortfall in facilities.
Where is the swimming pool?
Supposed to be a pool so our children can learn to swim so they can engage with the sea around them and the tourism industry that we rely on!
They have to say they are confident.
Having been hijacked by the government where else will they get money from to spend on projects and remain relevant.
Plus this is the eve of an election year. The government is pushing ahead with this project no matter what the cost. So now now contractors will be asked to charge for shift work, weekend work, holiday work all in the name of a September opening and maybe our own snap election.
This is a cluster f**k that will happen.