Gym floor at Mount Stewart school to get replaced this summer

The gym floor at Mount Stewart Consolidated School in eastern P.E.I., which is in desperate need of repair according to PC MLA Sidney MacEwen, will be replaced this summer, subject to a tendering process.

Shortly after the issue was brought up in the legislature by MacEwen Wednesday afternoon, a government spokesperson said in an email to CBC that the Public Schools Branch made the decision to fix the floor on Tuesday after an assessment on Monday. The tender will be developed and issued as soon as possible, the spokesperson said. 

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MacEwen told the house that it is a safety issue for students of the school, which is in his district. He said a badminton meet had to be cancelled Wednesday because of the condition of the floor.

"There are gaping holes in the floor in the gym," he said. 

Water, holes in floor

"I was out there the other day. I stepped on the floor and water came up through the floor in the middle of gym. I had to interrupt a badminton game for the kids, stepped on the floor, water comes up through the floor."

Government had already issued a tender to replace the roof at the school this winter. 

Education Minister Jordan Brown said $2 million is set aside for capital repairs each year and it is up to the Public Schools Branch to determine what the needs are.

Brown said officials with the schools branch were at the school Monday assessing the floor. 

There is a $50 million, five-year capital plan for schools from the provincial government. Of that, $10 million is for capital repairs, which works out to $2 million each year for things such as roofs, windows and parking lots. 

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