Kugaaruk school contract awarded
Kudlik Construction to build replacement after fire razed Kugaardjuk School
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Monday, June 26, 2017
KUGAARUK
Less than four months after Kugaardjuk School burnt to the ground, the GN is hiring Kudlik Construction to design and build a replacement.
The contract was awarded last week. The amount wasn't disclosed and the Department of Community and Government Services did not respond to Nunavut News/North's inquiries by press time.
What is known about the new building is that it will be constructed on the same lot as the previous school and it will accommodate up to 450 students, according to John MacDonald, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Education. Kugaardjuk school had 295 full-time students in 2016-2017.
The new school will also offer more classroom space, a larger gym "to better accommodate sports and recreation as well as community events," more space for change rooms, additional storage areas, additional multi-purpose rooms, expanded career and technology studies space, a learning coach and student support classroom and a stage, MacDonald stated.
Kugaaruk Mayor Stephan Inaksajak was still awaiting an update from the government as of last Wednesday. He said he had learned Kudlik Construction submitted the successful tender bid but had been informed of little more.
"I've heard that it's going to be a bigger school but I've never really heard anything else," Inaksajak said.
Kudlik Construction is already working on the hamlet office in Kugaaruk and has been hiring workers from the community, Inaksajak noted.
"So there will probably be some more local people working on the school," the mayor said.
On the Kudlik Construction website, the company describes itself as "an Inuit firm complying with the legal requirements to carry on business in Nunavut. Moreover, the company meets the criteria of the Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti Policy (NNI) and is therefore recognized as an Inuit goods and services supplier."
No one from Kudlik Construction could be reached for comment prior to press deadline.
Inaksajak said he is expecting six modular classrooms to be shipped to Kugaaruk via sea-lift this summer. Those units will be used until the new school is operational.
The community scrambled to accommodate students following the February fire.
Students completed their lessons in makeshift classrooms in the church hall, the housing authority, the hamlet gym and at the Business Development Centre.
"When the school burnt the hamlet worked really hard to find space because we know that education for the students is very important," Inaksajak said.
."The whole town helped each other."
Whether the new building will retain the name Kugaardjuk School will be up to the district education authority, according to the Department of Education.
