Province announces new school at former WorkSafe rehab centre

The province of New Brunswick has officially begun the process of turning a former WorkSafeNB building into a K-5 school in Grand Bay-Westfield.

Also known as the former WorkSafeNB Rehabilitation Centre, the facility at 3700 Westfield Rd. is expected to replace Grand Bay Primary School, built in 1947, and Inglewood School, which was built in 1960.

In a news release, the province said the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will begin a structural analysis to determine the work and funds needed to retrofit the building. The province has not shared an expected timeline.

Grand Bay-Westfield Mayor Brittany Merrifield said in an interview this is big news for the community.

"For this to have been brought over the line is very exciting for the town, the community and everyone around us," she said.

Merrifield said the school was 10th on the province's list of areas that need new schools, but finding this building means the wait time for the new school has been cut to three years from six.

The town has been advocating for a new school school for nearly a decade, she said, adding that it's important to be able to accommodate the increase in population and prepare for even more people to move to the area.

In one school, space was so limited that staff had to use a sports equipment locker to have a private conversation with one of the students, Merrifield said.

"I think it will make a huge difference. Currently our two schools, they're old, they're not accessible, they don't have proper-sized gyms, they don't have libraries, music rooms, they don't have intervention rooms."

The news release said only parts of the building will be used as a school, and the rest will have other uses the province has not determined yet.

Merrifield said she's hoping for a childcare facility or a medical clinic. She said council is advocating to be involved in choosing who shares the building with the school.

The rehabilitation centre, intended for people with complex injuries requiring weeks of treatment, was shuttered last spring. Services were decentralized during COVID-19 and workers continue to get treatment in their own communities, WorkSafeNB has said.

The province said the property was transferred to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure last December.