Oyster Pond Construction Contract Awarded

The Eastern Shore will be home to a new school when Oyster Pond Academy opens to about 650 students in September 2007.

Maxim Construction Inc., of Dartmouth, has been awarded the job of building the new Grade Primary to 9 school. The successful bid was tendered at $10,347,000.

"We made a commitment to the people in this community that we would build Oyster Pond Academy and we are keeping that promise," said Education Minister Jamie Muir.

Construction of the school should begin this spring. It will have several special features, including an energy efficient design and a composite rubber floor in the gymnasium that absorbs impact and reduces the potential for injury. The school was designed by Harvey and MacKenzie Architects of Halifax.

Progress on the school slowed when earlier construction bids came in almost $2 million over estimate.

To keep the project moving ahead, the Department of Education broke the project into smaller elements. Two contracts were awarded to Dexter Construction last fall for site preparation and foundation work, and that work is now complete.

The new contract, the work already completed, and some yet-to-be-tendered wrap-up work total $12 million.

Oyster Pond Academy is being built through the province's eight-year, $400-million capital construction program.