Golden Hills celebrates approval of new Westmount School development

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Golden Hills School Division is celebrating the approval of the new K-9 Westmount School to be constructed in Strathmore, replacing the current half-century-old facility. 

The project was approved by the Government of Alberta to move from the planning to the design stage of the replacement school on May 21.

“We were ecstatic to hear the announcement come. We have been waiting for a couple of years to hear this … we have been in pre-planning and planning mode for a couple of years, and so we had received some government funding for that and we have been working preliminarily with an architect and engineer, and they created a business case and then we presented that back to Alberta Education,” said Jeff Grimsdale, superintendent of schools for Golden Hills School Division. “They liked our business case and what we were doing, then they granted the approval for us to move into the design stage, which will provide more funding and then we will get moving faster, and we are on the school construction accelerator program.”

Grimsdale explained once Golden Hills School Division is ready to begin construction, moving into that phase of the project will be expedited due to their inclusion in the accelerator program. 

Currently, there is no formal estimate regarding how long precisely the design stage will take before the project is advanced further. 

Preliminary drawings for the new facility have been developed; however, they are still subject to change prior to the project being submitted for tender. 

Westmount Elementary School, which serves students in K-6, has been operational in the community for over 50 years, and according to the school division, is approaching its expiration date.

The decision to have the new facility serve in a K-9 capacity stems from a growing need within the community to accommodate the age demographic. 

“It has been an ask for a number of years from Golden Hills to get a new school there … because of the growth that is anticipated to happen in this area, we decided to put in our plan a K-9,” said Grimsdale. “We are seeing that George Freeman is full, Trinity Christian Academy, the junior high, is full, and Crowther Memorial Junior High is getting to the full stage too. In a few years, they will all be at capacity, so we see a pinch there in junior high.”

The current capacity of Westmount Elementary School is approximately 370 students. Once the new facility is completed, it will have an estimated maximum capacity of 680 students. 

Construction of the new facility will see it placed closer to the RCMP building where the baseball diamonds are currently located on the school grounds. 

Once students are in the new building, the old structure will be demolished to make room for a new playground. The idea being to not require any student displacement while the new school is under construction. 

“When you start looking at the age of the building and whatnot, we know that it just became part of our capital plan that we needed something done with this school, and so replacement is the best course of action for us at this time,” said Grimsdale. 

Golden Hills School Division has committed to keeping families and the wider community informed as planning and construction of the new facility move forward.