Six potential builders shortlisted for Saskatoon City Centre School development

The construction of a new public elementary school to serve Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods is moving forward after years of delay.

According to the minister of SaskBuilds and Procurement, a shortlist of six construction firms have been selected to bid on the Saskatoon City Centre School project.

When the Princess Alexandra School was torn down at the end of the 2022 school year, officials hoped to have the new facility open by 2025. Work was soon delayed after an anticipated capital partner pulled out, according to the Saskatoon Public School Division.

The new Avenue H facility, the fourth school to be built on that land, is also intended to replace both King George and Pleasant Hill schools.

The companies shortlisted by the province, in partnership with Saskatoon Public Schools, include PCL Construction, Quorex Construction, VCM Construction, Westridge Construction and Wright Construction.

"We are excited to have a shortlist of teams for the Saskatoon City Centre School Project," SaskBuilds and Procurement Minister David Marit said.

"This is an important step towards construction that shows our province's focus on building modern schools for future generations.”

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The province says the shortlisted companies were selected through a competitive process, with the aim of ensuring high-quality and timely delivery of the project.

These firms will now proceed to the tender stage, where they are invited to provide detailed submissions to bid on the construction contract.

According to the province, the school will be designed to accommodate up to 400 students from Prekindergarten to Grade 8 and will include 74 childcare spaces.

Originally, the school division planned for a much larger building to house up to 600 students, including joint use community elements like a recreation facility.

Planners were counting on purchasing the adjacent land currently occupied by the City Centre Church to accommodate the expansion, but the church rejected their pitch.

“We were hoping we could entice them with an offer, market value, even significantly better than market value, but that was not acceptable to City Center Church,” Saskatoon Public Schools facilities superintendent Stan Laba told CTV News in an update in August.

Instead, they had to downsize their plans — further delaying the development.

The new school construction is expected to begin following the completion of the procurement process, likely breaking ground in 2025.

-With files from Rory MacLean and Carla Shynkaruk