Calgary

Flood-affected Elbow Park students move into portables

Elementary students from flood-damaged Elbow Park School in Calgary now have access to several portable classrooms at the nearby Earl Grey School after four months of delays.

Temporary classrooms now ready after 4-month delay

The temporary gymnasium for Elbow Park students is still under construction at Earl Grey School in southwest Calgary. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)

Elementary students from flood-damaged Elbow Park School in Calgary now have access to several portable classrooms at the nearby Earl Grey School after four months of delays.

Balloons and a festive sign greet Elbow Park Students at their temporary home of Earl Grey School. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)

Calgary Board of Education (CBE) spokesperson Calvin Davies says the original timeline for opening the temporary structures may be been too optimistic.

"In hindsight, if you think about it, the catastrophe happened in the latter part of June and I think they did an amazing job to get the site up and ready in such a short period of time," said Davies.

Originally the plan was to bus the students from Elbow Park to Eugene Coste School in Haysboro, but the CBE decided instead to install portable classrooms at the nearby Earl Grey School.

Dean Miskiman, an Elbow Park School parent, is pleased with the shorter commute for his family and he is also pleasantly surprised by the buildings.

"It doesn't look like portables at all really, it just looks like a normal school," he said. 

While the portable classrooms are in place, a temporary gymnasium is still under construction.

Elbow Park School was heavily damaged by the floodwaters from the Elbow River in June. It will either undergo substantial renovations or be torn down and replaced by a new building. 

Officials say Elbow Park Elementary School, badly damaged in June's flooding, will not reopen for up to two years. (CBC)