Moncton / Rexton Schools

operational

Opportunity The 57-year-old Eleanor Graham Middle School in Rexton did not provide barrier-free access for disabled students and had a gymnasium and building operating system that did not meet modern standards for an educational facility. The province wanted to replace the school and also build a much needed school in Moncton. The province decided to combine the construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of the two schools into one contract and use a public-private partnership to procure them. Challenges Procurement of the Moncton and Rexton schools took place before the creation of Partnerships New Brunswick in February 2011, a division within the Department of Transportation that has created standard procedures for implementing a candidate project as a P3. These standard procedures were not available for reference at the time the schools were procured. Innovations Facing an aggressive construction schedule the private partner implemented a number of design solutions that helped fast track the schools’ construction including establishing a detailed critical path schedule at the beginning of the project with input from the Department of Education and relevant stakeholders, and sequential tendering of the sub-trades at the start of construction. Results The new Eleanor W. Graham Middle School accommodates 350 students in grades six through eight from the Rexton and Richibucto areas, and from the Elsipogtog First Nation. It is barrier-free and has 13 classrooms, a large gymnasium and cafeteria, three special education classrooms, a library and resource centre, science and technology labs, music and art rooms, and a native cultural centre. The Northrop Frye School in North Moncton can accommodate 650 students from kindergarten to grade eight. It has 27 classrooms, two large gymnasiums, a cafeteria, one special education classroom, a resource centre, science and technology labs, art and music rooms, and a student services area. Construction of both schools was completed ahead of schedule in a little over one year, with less than one per cent of construction costs in change orders, much lower than typical of projects delivered through the traditional approach. Both schools were designed and constructed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards but upon completion exceeded these standards, achieving LEED Gold certification.

High