King George PAC Meeting Summary
Feb 5, 2019
Notes provided by Leanne Dospital and Ryan Schweitzer
It was a well attended KG PAC last night! Many of the guests were from Roberts Elementary. Thank you to KG PAC and Principal, Jason Lauzon, for the invitation.
There were 5 guests invited to speak about the King George redevelopment - 3 from the City of Vancouver and 2 from Vancouver School Board.
The two main speakers were: Danica Djurkovic, Director, Facilities Planning and Development, City of Vancouver (COV) James (Jim) Meschino, Director, Facilities, Vancouver School Board (VSB)
Parents who have questions after reading the information below should direct them to their school principals. Principles will review questions and submit to VBS. This will streamline responses.
Q&A
Timeline and Seismic Upgrade
Q: What is the timeline?
A: it depends - will take 2-3 years for design - best case is 4-5 years before construction starts
Q: Has provincial funding been secured?
A: Seismic funding only - addressing in order of improvements - KG is in year 4
Q: Can the seismic upgrade be completed without tearing down?
A: Don't know yet - will be relying on engineers and architects to advise about options
Stages of Work
Q: What will happen? Will the work be staged?
A: Not yet sure, but work on Kits high was phased with kids staying on site during construction - takes longer
Q: What about building on the Annex site?
A: This has capacity for 500 students and could be a possibility - they will be asking for all ideas during engagement process
Q: What will happen to the children?
A: there are a variety of options - some stay on site, eg: Begbee and Tennyson; Gordon kids (elementary) were bussed to QE Annex;
Q: Will the kids be bussed to a different site? Where would they go?
A: Have not bussed secondary kids to different sites for other projects A: So far all of the high-school renewals (rebuilds) had the students remain on-site. ie, for Kits they tore down and rebuilt in phases and brought in portables. To date any bussing to swing sites has only been elementary kids. They noted that, for the kids that bussed, they enjoyed it as they got to make friends in other areas of the city. The difficulty in adapting was for the parents. Kits - stayed on site - phased - takes longer - kids stayed on Van Tech and Hamber sites too - this is the preferred option for VSB and parents
Q: For kids in grades 4-5 what will their future at KG look like?
A: Unknown - but could have plan in 4 years with construction starting then - phased an option - portables an option
Land Ownership and Priorities
Q: Can we build on the field? What is the priority - school or community centre?
A: Everything is a possibility now, and will look to community engagement for ideas - priority is everything together - want to do it right, say it needs to last 100 years!
A: Renewal option (vs. renovation) serves future better
A: Capital Plan says 1500 capacity for KG, but may be more like 1100 - if 3X the size then better programming and will get auditorium. Schools with 1000+ students have access to more programming options.
Q: Parent described engagement model used for rebuilding BC Children's Hospital; described mock-up and how through this process, flaws were found and corrected - how will parents, students, and teachers be involved in the planning?
A: Described Brittania experience - PAC had development committee - identified key stakeholder groups - held 30 public events
Q: What is the purpose of the City of Vancouver’s $10 million?
A: It is enough to start work - for the planning of the community centre - again talked about capital plans aligning and 4 year process - sense is that COV got the $10 mil and VSB is leveraging this to get plans for KG as well - Seems like VSB hasn't yet committed money for this planning stage.
A: Year 4 - construction may start - will need a "large chunk of money" for construction in about 2022/2023
Q: Will developers be engaged for the construction?
A: A possibility - exploring all options
Q: How important is it to maintain the field?
A: It is essential!
Q: Are there other relationships between COV and VSB?
A: Brittania, Thunderbird, Coal Harbour.
Q: Are there other VSB owned properties in downtown?
A: Elsie Roy, Annex, Roberts, KG A: Portables on COV properties are an option during phased construction
Q: Who owns what portion of the land?
A: VSB = ⅔ and COV = ⅓ VSB owns the land that the community centre and school are built on. COV owns the field. Parks Board will be part of the process as well as because of the mixed use plan for the field
It was a well attended KG PAC last night! Many of the guests were from Roberts Elementary. Thank you to KG PAC and Principal, Jason Lauzon, for the invitation.
There were 5 guests invited to speak about the King George redevelopment - 3 from the City of Vancouver and 2 from Vancouver School Board.
The two main speakers were: Danica Djurkovic, Director, Facilities Planning and Development, City of Vancouver (COV) James (Jim) Meschino, Director, Facilities, Vancouver School Board (VSB)
Parents who have questions after reading the information below should direct them to their school principals. Principles will review questions and submit to VBS. This will streamline responses.
- KG has the capacity for 375 students - currently they are closer to 500
- COV and VSB are working to align, or synchronize, their Capital Plans in order to rebuild school, community centre (includes rink), child care, library, etc.
- VSB has KG in year 4 of their plan re: seismic upgrade. The plan is not currently funded.
- COV received $10 million to begin planning, designing, community engagement = the "Project"
- This process will take 2-4 years to complete - more likely 4 which will align with Capital Plans
- Once the Project plans is approved then VSB/COV will be ready for construction - they would not say how much is needed, but it's a lot!
- Good clarification about various funding sources and purposes:
- "growth" money can only be used for the growth of the community - ie: more people = more money for capital projects - but cannot be used for renewal.
- For example: if KG were to be rebuilt, the growth money would only cover the portion of the costs that were about increased population. There is $500-700 million in Community Amenity Contributions (CAC) which must benefit the public and can only be used for growth.
- Bottom-line, CACs will not cover the full cost of a rebuild. https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/community-amenity-contributions.aspx
- The Project will start this year with a community engagement plan (COV).
- VSB will be hiring a consultant to do planning work for the school site and determine next nexts.
Q&A
Timeline and Seismic Upgrade
Q: What is the timeline?
A: it depends - will take 2-3 years for design - best case is 4-5 years before construction starts
Q: Has provincial funding been secured?
A: Seismic funding only - addressing in order of improvements - KG is in year 4
Q: Can the seismic upgrade be completed without tearing down?
A: Don't know yet - will be relying on engineers and architects to advise about options
Stages of Work
Q: What will happen? Will the work be staged?
A: Not yet sure, but work on Kits high was phased with kids staying on site during construction - takes longer
Q: What about building on the Annex site?
A: This has capacity for 500 students and could be a possibility - they will be asking for all ideas during engagement process
Q: What will happen to the children?
A: there are a variety of options - some stay on site, eg: Begbee and Tennyson; Gordon kids (elementary) were bussed to QE Annex;
Q: Will the kids be bussed to a different site? Where would they go?
A: Have not bussed secondary kids to different sites for other projects A: So far all of the high-school renewals (rebuilds) had the students remain on-site. ie, for Kits they tore down and rebuilt in phases and brought in portables. To date any bussing to swing sites has only been elementary kids. They noted that, for the kids that bussed, they enjoyed it as they got to make friends in other areas of the city. The difficulty in adapting was for the parents. Kits - stayed on site - phased - takes longer - kids stayed on Van Tech and Hamber sites too - this is the preferred option for VSB and parents
Q: For kids in grades 4-5 what will their future at KG look like?
A: Unknown - but could have plan in 4 years with construction starting then - phased an option - portables an option
Land Ownership and Priorities
Q: Can we build on the field? What is the priority - school or community centre?
A: Everything is a possibility now, and will look to community engagement for ideas - priority is everything together - want to do it right, say it needs to last 100 years!
A: Renewal option (vs. renovation) serves future better
A: Capital Plan says 1500 capacity for KG, but may be more like 1100 - if 3X the size then better programming and will get auditorium. Schools with 1000+ students have access to more programming options.
Q: Parent described engagement model used for rebuilding BC Children's Hospital; described mock-up and how through this process, flaws were found and corrected - how will parents, students, and teachers be involved in the planning?
A: Described Brittania experience - PAC had development committee - identified key stakeholder groups - held 30 public events
Q: What is the purpose of the City of Vancouver’s $10 million?
A: It is enough to start work - for the planning of the community centre - again talked about capital plans aligning and 4 year process - sense is that COV got the $10 mil and VSB is leveraging this to get plans for KG as well - Seems like VSB hasn't yet committed money for this planning stage.
A: Year 4 - construction may start - will need a "large chunk of money" for construction in about 2022/2023
Q: Will developers be engaged for the construction?
A: A possibility - exploring all options
Q: How important is it to maintain the field?
A: It is essential!
Q: Are there other relationships between COV and VSB?
A: Brittania, Thunderbird, Coal Harbour.
Q: Are there other VSB owned properties in downtown?
A: Elsie Roy, Annex, Roberts, KG A: Portables on COV properties are an option during phased construction
Q: Who owns what portion of the land?
A: VSB = ⅔ and COV = ⅓ VSB owns the land that the community centre and school are built on. COV owns the field. Parks Board will be part of the process as well as because of the mixed use plan for the field
We gratefully live, work and play on the unceded and traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples – sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations.