The $2.7 million exterior renovation at Winkler Elementary School is steadily moving along.

Garden Valley School Division Secretary Treasurer, Terry Penner says the full project is expected to be complete by the end of this calendar year.

However, the work needed to get students back in the building by fall, is expected to be complete by September. "As far as the work in the summertime goes, they're looking at completing the majority of the roofing replacement, and that's going to be pretty much the entire roof over the original building down 8th Street and also down Mountain there as well."

New window installation has gotten underway, and the exterior masonry work should be getting underway soon.

Penner notes there have been a few hurdles with the project. The most significant has been, as they were digging around the foundation of the building ,they came across a number of old concrete foundations they were unaware of.

"So some extra work has had to happen to sort of dig those things out and haul them away, and it kind of delayed the project a bit. But other than that, it's moving along quite well...it won't be finished by September, but it will certainly be ready for kids when they come back."

Penner says there is a Contingency Fund for capital projects like this, and they have had to dip into the fund for some of that extra foundational work.He says they are starting to stretch the fund. "Those things are certainly unforeseen. Nobody could tell what was buried deep underground at the time of putting the plan together, but so far, we're still okay as far as the budget goes."