First look at new K-8 francophone school for Moncton
People in Moncton are getting a sneak peak at a new K-8 francophone school planned for McLaughlin Road.
Renderings of the new school and other documents are posted on Moncton's planning advisory committee's pages on the city's website.
The committee will meet Feb. 26, and on the agenda is a bylaw amendment to rezone property at 620 McLaughlin Rd. to accommodate a new school.
The land is not far from École L'Odyssée, a high school, and the adjoining École Le Mascaret, a middle school.
The province first announced the project in April 2018 to help deal with the growing number of students attending École Le Sommet and École Champlain.
Greg Turner, a city councillor-at-large, said this is an important project.
"We have a very aggressive strategy moving forward to grow our population and this will be really really helpful in us achieving those goals and targets," he said.
Turner said new schools help attract residential growth, which promotes commercial growth.
The needs of the francophone community have to be met, he said, and the McLaughlin Road location is key.
"The city is expecting quite a significant growth pattern not only on the McLaughlin Road area but right over all the way to the developments that are going to be happening off Mapleton Road," Turner said. "And the two will intersect with what we call the Vision Lands."
"This will all intersect and you'll see the opening of this whole area in Moncton over the next five to 10 years. It'll be significant."
Rezoning the land is one of the first steps in this project.
The province said everything is on target.
"The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has allocated $44.1 million in its capital budget to support construction projects already underway, including the previously announced new K-8 francophone school in Moncton," department spokesperson Tara Chislett said in an email to CBC News.
"We anticipate breaking ground this spring. Further details will be available in the coming weeks."
