Sara Cohen School to be rebuilt on different site

Sara Cohen School principal Matthew Tofia stands on the site behind the former Calton Hill School...
Sara Cohen School principal Matthew Tofia stands on the site behind the former Calton Hill School, where the new Sara Cohen School will be built. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
A new, multimillion-dollar purpose-built special education facility is to be built for Dunedin’s Sara Cohen School after a last-minute change of plans at the Ministry of Education.

Plans had been in place for more than two years to spend $4 million rebuilding the school on its present site in Rutherford St, Caversham, and classes finished early this year to allow time for demolition and construction to start over the summer holidays.

However, ministry education infrastructure service head Kim Shannon said the ministry recently decided the project would be too intrusive on the education of pupils at the school, so it had decided to build a whole new school on land behind the former Calton Hill School site in Riselaw Rd.

"The current [Rutherford St] site is constrained, and the likely disruption to the school’s students of an ongoing construction project meant the right approach was to relocate.

"The relocation and new build will ensure quality, fit-for-purpose learning environments that support the students’ diverse needs."

Design work would progress during next year and it was hoped construction would be completed by the end of 2022 — about the same time as the initial on-site rebuild had been expected to be completed.

She was unable to release estimated costs at this stage because she did not want to prejudice the ministry’s ability to carry out commercial negotiations, she said.

Sara Cohen School principal Matthew Tofia was delighted with the change of tack.

Buildings at the former Calton Hill School site had already been refurbished for use by government education agencies, including Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB), the van Asch Deaf Education Centre, the Blind and Low Vision Education Network (BLENNZ) and the Southern Regional Health School, making it an ideal location for the new Sara Cohen School.

Mr Tofia said the new school would include four classrooms, a large purpose-built sensory room, a whanau area (school hall), a large playing field area and an "Endless" water-jet pool for hydrotherapy.

The new school would accommodate 24 pupils and could be expanded to accommodate more if demand grew in the future.

Satellite classes at Bathgate Park and Concord Schools would continue to operate, he said.

"We’re excited because it means we won’t have this build around our ears for the next two years.

"I can’t even imagine the disruption that would have caused the kids.

"I think when the ministry looked at it, they realised what a challenge the current site would be — how challenging it would have been for our young people to be amongst the building site as well as the dangers.

"This is a good solution.

"We’ll be able to walk out of this Sara Cohen School in Rutherford St and walk into the new building in Riselaw Rd in 2023."

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

Comments

It is just fantastic to see the Sara Cohen school going from strength to strength. Full credit to Matthew Tofia and his team. Our community needs services like this so all of our children are nurtured in their eduction.

 

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