HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-03-11, Page 24
Page A2 - Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Foundation laid on schedule for new Town Hall
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signal -star staff
Goderich Town Hall is progressing as
planned, both time -wise and financially.
With the foundation in the ground, there
is literally nowhere to go but up for con-
struction.
"We're moving forward," said clerk -
administrator Larry McCabe. " You can
see the foundation in. The next step is
the geothermal holes being drilled."
Architect Alan Avis reported to coun-
cil late last month that the building was
going along as scheduled, and that the
weather in the next month will determine
just how close to the timeline it will be.
"It looks as if everything is shaping
up nicely," he said. "Spring will be tell-
tale."
Drilling is taking
place for geother-
mal pipes and pre-
cast walls will be
soon to follow.
The project needs
to be completed no
later than December
31 of this year in
order to meet strict
March
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Photo by Gerard Creces
. A view from Waterloo Street to the foundation work of the new Town Hall structure.
provincial requirements for accessibil-
ity.
"It will certainly provide for a better
delivery of municipal services at this
point," he said. "And accessibility."
Meanwhile, the province has taken note
of the project, with Jim Watson, Minister
of Municipal Affairs and }lousing taking
a visual tour of the building's exterior at a
recent Ontario Good Roads conference.
It's back to school before Labour Day
Stew Slater
for the signal -star
Classroom doors will swing
open prior to Labour Day next
September, as school boards
across the province deal with
a combination of quirks in the
2009 and 2010 calendars, last
year's creation of a new statutory
holiday in February, and require-
ments of 194 instructional days
under Ontario's Education Act.
Friday,
March 6,
administra-
tors of the
Huron -Perth
Catholic and
Avon Mai-
tland Dis-
trict school
boards met
to finalize
their recom-
mendation
for a jointly -
approved
2009- 1 0
school cal-
endar. The
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committee proposing the docu-
ment -- which isn't official until
approved by trustees — also in-
cludes representatives from teach-
ers' unions and trustees.
"Because Labour Day is so late,
they have to start before the holi-
day," reported Avon Maitland chair
Jenny Versteeg.
Traditionally, school begins on
the Tuesday following Labour Day.
But with Labour Day, 2009 falling
on Monday, Sept. 7, that would have
meant classes wouldn't start until
Tuesday, Sept. 8. Counting forward
194 days from that date, taking into
account all statutory holidays and
three weeks of down-time split be-
tween Christmas and March Break,
and the schedule would have ex-
tended into July, 2010.
The Education Act decrees that
all instructional days must fall be-
tween Sept. 1 and June 30.
According to Versteeg, the joint
committee decided tosend kids to
school for three straight days be-
ginning Sept. 1, then named Friday,
Sept. 4 as a holiday. This will, allow
for a four-day weekend when com-
biried with the Labour Day Mon-
day.
"The goal is for people to have
time with their family," Versteeg
said.
Ironically, it was the creation of
an entirely different "family-orient-
ed" holiday, by an entirely different
level of government, that partially
created the circumstances behind
the unique school calendar. Versteeg
admitted that, without the early
February Family Day statutory day
off --- devised as a campaign prom-
ise by the ruling provincial Liberals
— school boards might have come
closer to squeezing in 194 instruc-
tional days without skipping ahead
of Labour Day.
Still, according to Huron -Perth
Catholic education superintendent
Dan Parr, school boards still would
have faced the same challenge.
"Family Day compounded the
problem, but it wasn't the sole rea-
son," Parr explained. "The main
reason (for the unorthodox school
calendar) is the fact that Labour
Day is so late."
The end of the 2(X)9-10 school
calendar might also be a disap-
pointment to some students and
parents. Under the committee's
proposal, the final instructional
day is Monday, June 28 -- mean-
ing families will feel compelled
to stick around home for an extra
weekend to, ensure top-level grades
for attendance.
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