Construction starts on Quaqtaq’s new school
$178M project to replace community’s overcrowded school; completion expected in 2030
A design rendering shows the new Isummasaqvik School in Quaqtaq set to be completed in 2030. The project has officially entered its construction phase and will replace the current school building. (Photo courtesy of MS + Jodoin Lamarre Pratte Architects in Consortium)
Construction started on Quaqtaq’s new school Wednesday.
Isummasaqvik School is expected to be complete in 2030, when it will serve about 250 students from kindergarten through Secondary V, or the final year of high school. It will replace the old school, which operates at its capacity of 125 students, and will have a large gym and space for cultural classes, such as sewing.
Sarah Aloupa, president of the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq school board, hopes the new school will encourage more students to complete high school.
“We have a lot of dropouts at a very young age,” said she said in an interview. “If I could have control, I would let every child graduate.”
Quebec’s Education Ministry approved funding for the project in 2020, and Kativik Ilisarniliriniq awarded the construction contract in January to Les Constructions Pépin et Fortin Inc.
While Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony marks the official start of construction, work at the site had already been underway since July, Aloupa said.
Crews have been preparing the foundation, including gravel work and blasting rock. The project provides employment opportunities for locals, with some working at the construction camp and others as heavy equipment operators.
There are plans for the building to connect to the water plant, rather than rely on trucks. School has had to close in the past due to water service disruptions.
However, the provincial funding doesn’t cover the construction of a pipeline, said communications co-ordinator Jade Duchesneau Bernier in an email.
“We are currently working with the Kativik Regional Government and municipal stakeholders to determine how to address this funding gap,” she said.
Once the new school is completed and the existing school is no longer needed, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq plans to renovate the building and convert it into an adult education and vocational centre that serves the Hudson Coast.
2030!?