As the current School District 8 board office on Nelson’s north shore has seen better days, about 40 staff are getting ready to move out. Come July their new office will be on the third floor of Central School where renovations have been underway.
“There was asbestos in the building, so the government has given us some money to clear up the asbestos on the floor. And then we just upgraded and built offices, they were previously classrooms so we had to turn them into offices,” explained Superintendent Christine Perkins.
The move have a number of benefits.
“More central, better use of all the buildings that we do have, safer for all our staff,” said Perkins. “And obviously easier for a lot of folks to get to, even if you’re coming over from Creston, it’s a lot easier to pop into downtown Nelson then it is to come all the way back across the bridge to the north shore.”
Some of the district’s buildings are at about half capacity according to Perkins. The move will also save money over time instead of spending to upkeep the old building.
However, the fate of the north shore location hasn’t been determined yet. It will likely be rented out short term and then the board of trustees will decide weather to sell it, or re-use it for something else within the district.
The district’s major projects for July/19 – June/20 are:
- Asbestos removal / flooring replacement main floor Wildflower (Nelson)
- Flooring upgrade – Erickson, ARES
- Canyon – grounds development – drainage
- LVR – dust collector replacement
- Hume – window/door replacement
- PCSS – transformer replacement
- Adam Robertson Elementary – renovate lower floor to create new learning space
- Winlaw – installation of new playground
- Complete renovation at Central to accommodate Board Office relocation