F.A. Tomsett elementary will be seismically upgraded and expanded with $7.71 million from the province and a contribution of $3.67 from the Richmond School District.
The school district’s contribution will allow the addition of 95 seats to the school.
Tomsett is currently at 98 per cent capacity and its population is expected to almost double by 2033, according to the school district’s draft Long-Range Facilities Plan.
Construction is expected to begin in summer 2020 and finish in early 2022. The addition will be built first, and then the school will be seismically upgraded. Students won’t need to be moved off-site during project.
“We are extremely pleased to be receiving funding from the Ministry of Education to seismically upgrade Tomsett elementary,” said Richmond board of education chair Ken Hamaguchi in a press release. “The Richmond Board of Education is committed to working with the ministry and, as such, will be providing funds for the expansion of the school to accommodate anticipated growth in the city centre area.”
Six seismic upgrades have been approved in Richmond since September 2017 at a total value of $62.4 million. These are Hugh Boyd Secondary, Steves elementary, Tait elementary, Ferris elementary, Mitchell elementary and Cook elementary. The Richmond School District's contribution to Cook elementary's upgrades and expansion was $1 million.
The Richmond contribution to the Tomsett project comes from the school district’s local capital fund.
