Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
No Gordon Bell grass field until autumn of next year
WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Enlarge Image
Work underway Tuesday to remove contaminated soil on the planned grass field on the former car dealership land.
IT will be another full school year before students at Gordon Bell can celebrate on a grass playing field.
Principal Arlene Skull said the work will likely start in the spring or early summer.
Skull said student and community consultations on the field should be completed before December but added the former auto dealership will be buried under snow by then and no landscape work can realistically start until the spring.
"That's our aim, the fall," of 2011, Skull said for the field to be completed.
Pulses were likely sent racing Tuesday at the sight of heavy equipment working on the one-hectare field but Skull said the machine is only removing contaminated soil discovered through an environmental assessment conducted earlier this year.
The assessment found two buried fuel tanks that have to be removed along with any possibly contaminated soil surrounding them, work that is being done this week.
The Winnipeg School Division issued a statement Tuesday morning saying while the field has been idle since it was acquired almost a year ago, there's been a lot of activity behind the scenes.
The school division came under fire earlier this month from community activists and New Democrat MP Pat Martin for a lack of progress on transforming the former auto dealership property into a playing field for the downtown high school.
The school division acquired the former car lot in December 2009 from Canada Post following an extensive lobbying campaign by community activists and Gordon Bell students and graduates.
The school division has drawn up tentative plans for the site but is conducting extensive student and community consultations before drawing up a wish list for a landscape architect yet to be chosen.
The division said a grounds-development committee, which includes students, parents, school staff and division staff, has prepared a short list of eligible landscape architects who will be invited to respond to a request for proposals after community and student consultations on the site.
Skull said Gordon Bell students have been involved in one round of consultations and community groups will be consulted in late September or mid-October.
Skull said the students have offered some refreshing ideas, including a lowered playing field with natural grass bleachers, an artificial-turf playing field for year-round use, and extensive nighttime lighting.
"They said they want lots and lots of lighting," Skull said. "They don't ever want it to be a spot where negative things happen."
There will be a second round of student consultations, she said, but added it hasn't been determined how many community consultation sessions will be held.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 1, 2010 B1
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