F rontier Collegiate Campus in Cranberry Portage has received funding to replace aged dormitories and to continue their strategic development of technical vocational education.
Last fall marked the official opening of the Northern Technical Centre in Cranberry Portage on the FCI campus.
This huge centre boasts state-of-the-art spaces for a building construction program, where two 1,500 sq. ft. houses can be built indoors, a cosmetology lab that boasts 10 well-designed stations, an adult ed. centre , a bus mechanics shop, and a classroom that will house advanced information technology equipment.
In November Frontier School Division received the funding announcement from the provincial government that FCI campus had been approved for funding to build a new 200-bed dormitory facility that provided a “home away from home” environment for the students from across Manitoba who attend school and live on the campus.
This will increase our student capacity to approximately 300 students. Currently over 200 students from approximately 20 different communities live in the dorms and attend school at FCI.
The funding announcement also included additional funding for a large power mechanic shop that will replace the small aging facility where the program was being housed.
This new facility will be a four-bay structure that will include large shop and teaching spaces.
Double in size
This will allow our existing power mechanics program to double in size for the next school year.
No time was wasted in beginning construction once the funding announcement was made.
Frontier School Division is working together with Smith Carter Architects and Engineers, and Graham Construction and Engineers, to complete this project on a very aggressive timeline.
The construction company has been onsite for the last few weeks and substantial work has been completed for the site prep and foundation work.
The project will be a pre-cast concrete construction that will ensure durability and sustainability for the future.
Some local labour and some skilled trades have been hired by the construction company. In addition, Anderson Logging completed the demolition of old dormitories.
The community of Cranberry Portage and surrounding area will see economic benefits as the construction crews will need to be housed as the projects proceeds.
Strengthening students from northern communities has always been the mandate of Frontier School Division with over 2,000 graduates coming from Frontier Collegiate in Cranberry Portage.
This project will ensure that the proud tradition continues on into the future and that students will not only be able to graduate with their full Grade 12, but will also graduate with employment-ready skills if this is the path they choose.
– Frontier Collegiate Institute
Upgrades to Frontier Collegiate Institute are moving ahead rapidly, as these recent photos illustrate.
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