On Wednesday, July 6th, the Public Entity Saba signed the contract with Work Monster B.V. to expand and renovate one of the building blocks at the Sacred Heart Primary School. Demolition works and the creation of an access road will start this month, during the summer vacation.
The Sacred Heart School (SHS) building is over 30 years old. An expansion is needed to facilitate the needs of the school. The expansion will also ensure that the new expanded, two-story school building block will comply with the requirements of the so-called BES code for schools.
Meetings to prepare and formalize this project were held with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) in The Hague, the Executive Council, and (representatives of) the SHS. Independent Consulting Engineers (ICE) finalized the engineering and tender documents. Temporary housing during the construction is being arranged at the Anglican Church in The Bottom, where the daycare was located. The kindergarten children will be relocated to this location at the Anglican Church.
This project is part of the master plan for education and child care. More phases will follow for the SHS for the other building blocks to comply with the BES code. This will be spread over several years due to the construction work on the school premises.
This is the first significant step in implementing the school building master plan, stated Commissioner of Education Bruce Zagers. “The purchasing of a property in The Bottom to construct a new daycare and after-school care facilities are ongoing. In the coming month, plans will be developed to expand and construct a new facility for the Saba Comprehensive School on the vacant plot of land next to the existing school buildings. Research is also ongoing for constructing a new gym and technical classrooms.”
The ministry of OCW is financing the project. The timeline for the project is from July 2022 through March 2023. Construction company Work Monster B.V. of Brian A. Hassell won the project tender. The Planning Bureau of the Public Entity Saba is responsible for project management.