While students have been attending the school since the start of the school year in September, the official grand opening of Legacy Park Elementary School in Weyburn was held Wednesday morning.  

Staff and students assembled in the gymnasium of the brand-new facility for the opening ceremony, which was attended by a number of dignitaries, including Minister of Education, and Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan and the Mayor of Weyburn Marcel Roy. 

“It’s an amazing school, it’s an amazing facility; a great partnership with the city on their new facility as well,” Duncan said. “It’s really a crown jewel for the City of Weyburn.” 

The new school takes the place of three older elementary schools – Haig School, Souris School and Queen Elizabeth School. The students and staff ended last school year at the old schools and started in the new facility in September.  

Covering 7,483 square meters, the new school shares 258 square meters with the Weyburn Credit Union Spark Centre, which officially opened on Saturday. The school itself was designed to be a unique learning environment for up to 650 students from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6.  

Duncan explained the building of this new school is the latest in a series of the revitalization of schools in Weyburn. 

“Starting with the high school, and the junior high school and now this elementary school, it really caps off a number of years of work between the government and South East Cornerstone to get us to this point,” Duncan added.  

In addition to the school, there is also a 51-seat childcare space incorporated into the facility. The school is divided into age-specific zones, which have a mix of flexible classrooms, breakout areas, wet and messy areas and student common spaces. There is also the added bonus of sharing space with the Spark Centre, which includes an indoor turf field, an indoor track, an indoor play structure and more. 

The groundbreaking of the new school was in May of 2019. Construction was completed earlier this year. A number of elements from the old school were incorporated into the new facility, including the relocation of the playground equipment. Legacy Park Elementary School came with a $33.7 million price tag.  

All images by Tanya Brown