Renovations at the school should be completed by the end of the year. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

upgrades

Bell’s Point Elementary School receives $4.8 million renovation

Sep 10, 2025 | 4:27 PM

A $4.8 million renovation project fully funded by Indigenous Services Canada is currently underway at the Lac La Ronge Indian Band’s (LLRIB) Bell’s Point Elementary School.

A construction crew has been working throughout the summer to complete the renovations, which includes new flooring throughout the facility, a new office and servery, crawl space remediation, additional and improved lighting, sidewalk repair, site grading and drainage improvements, a new parking lot and improved traffic flow.

“Their estimated completion date is Dec. 31, 2025. There will be a lot of minor things between now and then. The majority of it has been completed,” said LLRIB Director of Public Works and Housing Tayven Roberts.

“They did lose a lot of time this summer. We had the wildfire evacuation in June. Contractors lost about three weeks of construction time. This put them behind schedule.”

Planning for the project began in 2016 when the band requested a feasibility study for renovations and an addition to the school. An assessment reviewed the structural, mechanical, electrical and architectural aspects.

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While the request for an addition was rejected, renovations were approved and a contract was awarded in October 2024. Bell’s Point Elementary School currently has about 225 students and 50 staff.

With the wildfire evacuation pushing the construction team behind schedule, the start of classes were delayed about one week.

“They tried to do as much as they could on the inside, so they could free up the school space in the classroom and the hallways,” Roberts said.

“They were scrambling to get the flooring done at the last minute. We had some rain and there was a lot of outside work that had to happen really quick. They have been working overtime. We have been putting pressure on them to get it done, so we could open up the school. They did pretty good actually.”

Bell’s Point Elementary School was originally built in 2001 and had gone without any renovations since then.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com