CSPO to erect new high school in Plateau

On February 24, the Commission scolaire des Portages-de-l’Outaouais (CSPO) officially kicked off the groundwork for the construction of a new high school in the region.

According to a press release issued on the same date, the new school – currently known as 041 – will be located in the Plateau sector at the intersection of Boulevard de l’Amerique Francaise and Boulevard du Plateau.

Set to open in the fall of 2021, the institution expects to accommodate up to 810 students and offer teaching services from the first year of secondary to the fifth, including a school adaptation program.

Boasting three floors, the school will hold 43 classes, a double-sided gymnasium and a library, among other things.

The 37-plus million-dollar project is undertaken by Beauce-based construction company Pomerleau. 

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEES) has granted just over $50 million to the CSPO to cover the cost of the project and additional costs that may arise with such a project.

In the press release, Mayor of Gatineau Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin spoke highly of the project, stating that the construction of school 041 is exciting news for the population of the Plateau and the West of Gatineau.

“At the heart of the Parc Central, the students will be able to evolve in an interesting [environment], next to numerous sporting and leisure infrastructures,” he said. 

According to CSPO Communications Coordinator Maude Hébert, the school’s official name will be decided either by a contest or by the school’s executive committee, once it’s ready to open.

She added that the need for the construction of a new school in the Plateau was due to the constant demographic growth of the area, noting that a similar-sized institution – 040 – is currently being constructed on chemin d’Aylmer next to the Paul-Pelletier Aquatic Centre.