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The proposed exterior view of the new joint-use school to be built in Swift Current

The presentation of the proposed design for Swift Current's new joint-use school took place Monday night at the Credit Union iplex Auditorium.

Representatives from the Chinook and Holy Trinity School Divisions and the architects for the project were on hand to present the design for École Centennial and All Saints Catholic School, and answer questions from parents, stakeholders and members of the community.

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The facility, scheduled to open in 2014, will have a shared area which includes a library, arts classrooms and daycare spaces, but the two schools themselves will be very unique.

Louis Aussant, the Principal Architect with AODBT Architecture who designed École Centennial School, says the public school has some features that will highlight its French Immersion program: "We have a space in the school that we refer to as 'le Carrefour', it's quite playful with a lot of small windows, and we use the two colours, blue and white, which are also very French as well with 'La Fleur de Lis'. We pitched this idea to them to do something that was quite playful, and that was also a little out of the ordinary."

Bron Nurkowski with Stantec is a project architect for All Saints Catholic School, and says they worked on the philosophy that any space can be a learning space: "You can be learning in the classrooms, you can be learning in the corridors, you can be learning in the commons area, so it's basically allowing opportunities for different types of learning environments and opportunities... It's really nice to see that the administration is very supportive, and they understand what the students need to learn."

The design received favourable feedback from most of those in attendance, and
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from the representatives from the public and Catholic school boards.

"It's always exciting to build, and we're building," said Chinook School Board chairman Randy Beler. "We're creating two new schools for the city, it's going to benefit the entire southwest, and it's in collaboration with other partners as well. You can't get much better than this."

Mark Corbin, the Chairman of the Holy Trinity Catholic School Board, says the design was exactly what they were looking for: It's something new and innovative which allows us to use the strengths of both school divisions for the benefit of all our children, and being able to maintain our unique character for each school."

The schools are to be built north of Cypress Regional Hospital, and are planned to be part of a larger Integrated facility concept in Swift Current's northeast. Space is designated in the design between the school and hospital for the other components of the proposed facility, which could include a new long-term care centre and city recreation facilities.

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The main floor plan for the joint-use school. The plan for École Centennial School is on the right with All Saints Catholic School on the left, and the shared space is in the centre.

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The front entry for École Centennial School


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The front entry for All Saints Catholic School

Randy Beler, chairman of the Chinook School Board, talks with reporters after the presentation:



Mark Corbin, Chairman of the Holy Trinity Catholic School Division:   



Louis Aussant, Principal Architect with AODBT Architecture, talks about the design of École Centennial School:



Bron Nurkowski, Project Architect with Stantec, talks about All Saints Catholic School's design: