Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, August 29, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Seven portable classrooms on order for St. Joseph school won't be ready to use until mid-September, according to an official with Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS).

The school district purchased the portables to temporarily house students displaced by a fire last year.

Ten-year-old Kayle Wouters, left, and Korbin Kopec, 9, won't be seeing new portable classrooms when they start classes this week at St. Joseph school. Transportation problems have delayed the portables, which won't be ready for students until mid-September. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

Two of the portables are sitting on the other side of the Mackenzie River, while five more are expected to arrive Aug. 31. The portables will then be transported across the river by barge, and should arrive in Yellowknife Sept. 3. Mike Huvenaars, YCS assistant superintendent. said setting them up will take another two weeks before the classrooms are ready to use.

"We always knew transportation was going to be a problem," Huvenaars said.

He said the portables were ready at the factory earlier than promised, but difficulties came in securing transportation.

Dave Brothers, general manager of Clark Builders, is organizing the transport and set up of the portables. Brothers said it's challenging to secure transportation because he's competing with the oil patch industry in Alberta in hiring trucks.

"They have so much money, they can afford to make the truck wait," said Brothers. With heavy rain in Alberta recently, many vehicles were tied up while waiting it out on the oil companies' bill.

As the portables are over 24 feet wide, they need to book special vehicles and pilot cars - warning of the wide load.

Looking at the project retrospectively, Huvenaars said it was unrealistic to think they could have had the portables in time. In the meantime, around 150 students will be stuck without a permanent space.

The school will use specialty classrooms such as science labs to accommodate the students.