WINNIPEG -- Construction has stopped on a new school in southeast Brandon, Man., that was set to open in the fall.
Fresh Projects was awarded a $22.7 million contract to build Maryland Park School, which is expected to have space for more than 450 students and a childcare centre with 74 spaces.
But now, construction has been halted.
"Due to matters related to the general contractor, Fresh Projects, construction of the Maryland Park School has been stopped effective March 2,” said Linda Ross, chairperson of the board of trustees for the Brandon School Division, in a statement.
Ross said the school division will be working with Manitoba Education, legal counsel architects and the bonding company to devise a new construction schedule.
“Brandon School Division is concerned for the former staff of Fresh Projects as well as the sub-trades and suppliers involved in this project and will be coordinating a meeting of all parties in the very near future" she said, noting it’s too early to tell the kind of impact this will have on the school’s opening date.
Ross said she doesn’t know the legal status of Fresh Projects, or whether it has filed for bankruptcy.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen said Maryland Park is one of a number of schools in the province in various stages of planning and construction.
“Manitoba Education, the Brandon School Division and the bonding company will work together over the course of the next few weeks to develop a revised construction schedule,” the statement said. "There are bonds in place to protect the school division and sub-trades."
Fresh Projects has taken down its website
