Hillgrove School students soon won’t have to tromp through snow between classes now that work on the school’s new pedway has begun.
Crews started construction on a long-awaited pedway between the two halves of Hillgrove School on July 2.
St. Albert Public Schools merged Sir George Simpson Junior High and Robert Rundle Elementary to create Hillgrove in 2022. Since the buildings aren’t physically connected, students sometimes have to head outdoors to switch classes. School officials have been working to physically connect the buildings for several years.
This $1.5 million pedway will let students switch between buildings in a safer, more sheltered manner, said Michael Brenneis, St. Albert Public’s superintendent of finance. The corridor will be elevated one storey off the ground, connecting the second floor of the Simpson building with a new stairwell built next to Rundle’s front entrance, and will have windows and an elevator. Brenneis said the school board went with an elevated pedway instead of a ground-level one because of the one-storey elevation difference between the two buildings — a ground-level pedway would in essence be a one-storey-tall ramp inhospitable to wheelchair users.
Brenneis said crews expect to finish the pedway by January 2025. Staff and students will be able to use other doors to get between the two buildings during construction.
Questions on the pedway project should go to division office at 780-460-3712.
