Student input included in Roncalli building plans
Construction which could be taking place at Roncalli College early next year has been partly driven by student input.
The college and the Holy Parish Family are working together to build a new facility on the Craigie Ave side of the school’s grounds.
It comes as other high schools in Timaru are in the midst of a multi-million dollar building boom.
The school is looking to replace existing outdoor basketball courts with a covered - but open sided - turf area for sports, and will build new changing rooms which will be adjacent to the parish’s new meeting rooms.
Principal Chris Comeau said the school’s community was surveyed as to what it would like to see, and the students responded with a turfed area.
The facility would be covered but open on all sides apart from where it connected to the new changing rooms, which would be constructed in place of the school’s existing handball courts, he said.
‘‘We surveyed our community, including students, they’re quite enthusiastic about having a space like that, part of the request came from them,’’ Comeau said.
Board of trustees chairwoman Bridget Duff said the covered space would also free up the gym, which often housed numerous physical education classes simultaneously. When the construction was completed, the whole community would be able to make use the facility, ‘‘not just the Catholic community’’.
‘‘Other schools will be welcome to practice on it. It’s something we’d like to be able to share with everybody, if that’s possible.’’
The project will cost about $2.5 million dollars. As an integrated school, it would not receive any funding from the Ministry of Edu- cation (MOE) for the project, Duff said.
‘‘Once we get final approval there will be fundraising required because we don’t have the money at the moment,’’ Duff said.
There would be a combined approach to fundraising by the school and the parish, she said.
The project still needed to be approved by the MOE, and gain resource consent.
Comeau said the project was an opportunity to work in collaboration with the parish, which was keen to make a start as soon as possible. ‘‘We’re hoping to turn soil early next year.’’
The college is not the only Timaru high school with renovation plans in the works - Timaru Boys’ High School, Timaru Girls’ High School and Craighead Diocesan are also carrying out construction.
Holy Family Parish council chairman Gary Shand could not be reached for comment.