Construction is underway on a new gymnasium facility at Rimbey Christian School.
The future multiuse facility was able to start breaking ground after an anonymous donor brought the 33-year gymnasium dream closer to reality.
”We are probably in the range of $600,000 to complete everything. We have a little bit more than $400,000 already with this anonymous donation that came in, along with the gym fund,” Harold Grinde, Chairman of the Board for the Rimbey Christian School, said.
The project is also being expanded to include a new soccer field, a new skating rink and upgrades to the playground and parking facilities already in place. Grinde said all these improvements are intended to benefit the entire community.
“We have a small student body and there is a shortage of recreational facilities in town,” he said. “I know the other gyms in town are always booked and I’m sure our gym will be used by more than just our school.
“We want it to be viewed as a Rimbey community project.”
Grinde and his team are currently looking for funding from Ponoka County and the province in order to help finance new boards for the skating rink and Gibsons Energy has donated new LED lighting.
“Our old outdoor rink was pretty much done and had rotting boards. We also had to move it out of the way for construction, so we want to put it up close to the main road for easier access,” he said.
Rimbey Christian School, which is a feeder school for Central Alberta Christian High School in Lacombe, is beginning to fundraiser to help finish off the project.
“We have lots of volunteers working on the project. We do all we can to contribute to the school and we have some dedicated people in our school community who are contributing anyway they can, he said, adding part of the gap will be made up by the sale of some land on the east side of their campus to GLDC.
After a delayed start to their construction due to weather, Grinde expects to have site work, the parking lot expansion and a roof over the gymnasium by winter 2020.
He reiterated that the school believes this is a community project.
“If you go by the school grounds at anytime, there is always kids on the playground or shooting baskets. We view this as a community initiative and sports infrastructure for the east side of town,” he said.
todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com
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