It's all starting to come together.
The new Humboldt Collegiate Institute is starting to enter the last stages of construction.
The Journal had the opportunity to tour the construction site on August 25 with Don Lloyd, a superintendent with the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division.
"We hope to have the school finished by November 1," said Lloyd, further explaining the actual move-in date is up to the school.
The changes to the site have been obvious over the summer, with siding and windows being added to the large structure, attached to the Humboldt Uniplex.
The school will have a large main entrance on the east side of the building, where there will be a drop-off and pick-up zone outside the doors to the school.
Entering the doors, there is a large common area, which will have many different functions.
"It can be used as a gathering place for students or for an audience by the stage," said Lloyd.
When entering the common area, there are large windows looking into the gymnasium on the right, a stage straight ahead and the library and staff area to the left.
The common area also acts as a link, connecting all the wings of the high school.
The wings all have different functions. There are wings for practical arts, science and regular classrooms.
In the classroom wing, towards the end of the hall is a seamless transition into modular classrooms - what used to be known as portable classrooms.
"The modular classrooms are designed to look and feel like every other classroom in the school," said Lloyd.
Not only are they designed to look like the other classrooms, they were also designed with expansion in mind. If later on, the school needs more classrooms, they can make that area two stories, with classrooms on both levels.
The practical arts wing is something the students in Humboldt have never seen before.
In the wing, there are large workshops, where students can work on construction and mechanics.
One feature shop students will enjoy is a large double door which can accommodate vehicles with full pallets of lumber.
Other practical arts students will enjoy the home economics area, where there are kitchens and large sewing work stations.
Then there is the new gymnasium, which all the Mohawk teams will use. The gym will have a hardwood floor and large locker rooms. Visiting teams will not have to utilize the teams' locker rooms. There is a small locker room upstairs for the visiting team if necessary.
Lloyd outlined some of the features they planned for the school.
One major feature students and other visitors will notice are the large windows throughout the school.
"Everything is natural light - we are using as much natural light as possible," said Lloyd.
The other inviting feature of the school are the high ceilings.
"If we keep the ceiling high, students find it inviting," said Lloyd.
Since there is no basement under the building, all the hardware, including electricity and pipes, are above the suspended ceiling and the control room is located upstairs.
And unlike most schools, the walls will not be painted a boring white. To keep the school inviting and warm, the wall colours will vary throughout the school's classrooms.
With a completion date of November 1, the crew is almost finished the heavy work on the school.
"Basically once the main work is done, the finishing and flooring goes very quickly," said Lloyd.
Since all the roughing is put in, after they finish all the electrical and other hardware, all that will be left is putting on the finishing touches, such as flooring, paint and ceiling tiles.
The Carlton Trail Regional College wing of the building will be the last thing completed. It will be finished later than the rest of the school. Lloyd hopes the finish date of that wing will be November 21.
