New Camrose high school ready to go — but no road leads to it
Dispute between city and developer has left school without water, power, paved access
Construction on a new high school in the central Alberta city of Camrose has finished well ahead of its planned September opening, but an unresolved dispute has left the building without utilities and paved access.
Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic High School, designed to serve 400 to 600 students in grades 9-12, is part of the Elk Island Catholic Schools Division.
The province has spent nearly $30 million to build the school in the city of 20,000, about 95 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
The building is complete, with sidewalks, flag poles and a parking lot, but it lacks running water, electricity and paved access roads.
Davin Wilcox has two children who are supposed to start at Blessed Carlo Acutis in the fall, but worries it might not be possible for the building to open on schedule.
"This issue is near and dear to my heart ... I'm a big proponent of Catholic education," Wilcox said. "This really made me upset."
In a message to parents last month, Elk Island Catholic Schools' superintendent Paul Corrigan said he was "deeply concerned that key issues regarding critical municipal infrastructure to service the school remain unresolved, which could impact the school's opening timeline."
Corrigan said an "impasse" between the city and the developer is preventing the school district from taking possession of the building.
Camgill Development Corporation and the City of Camrose have not reached an agreement on who is responsible for providing these services for the school.
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Camrose city council held a meeting behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
In a statement to CBC after that meeting, Mayor PJ Stasko said he authorized another proposal to the province and the Elk Island Catholic board of trustees in hopes that "all parties can come to an agreement."
Camgill Development Corporation did not respond to CBC's request for a statement.
A statement from the office of Infrastructure Minister Martin Long said the province can't hand over the school to Elk Island Catholic to prepare it for opening until the city and the developer have reached an agreement.
"Under the Municipal Governance Act, the city owns the utilities and roads running to the school site and it is their responsibility to fulfil the utility and road access requirements for this project," the statement said.
The province said the remaining work can be completed in about three months, meaning that if an agreement can be reached, the school could open on schedule in September.
Communication inadequate, parent says
Wilcox said that while the school was being built, communication from the school board, the developers and the city had been positive and consistent.
But things started to change at the end of 2024, when parents started to wonder why there were no paved roads being built, he said.
"The carrot has been dangled in front of you for a year … and now things start to get quiet, things start to get weird," he said.
"Why is the school not open? Why are the teachers not allowed to go in there and start setting up their classrooms? Why isn't there an approach to the parking lot?"
The message from Corrigan doesn't give parents enough information about where their kids will go to school in the fall, he added.
Many of the students who are supposed to start at the new high school in the fall are currently at Our Lady of Mount Pleasant, a Camrose school for learners in grades 5-12.
"There's been no statements, there's been no progress reports, there's been no timeline," Wilcox told CBC's Edmonton AM on Wednesday.
"The window to start digging and re-servicing the school … all that time is disappearing."
LISTEN | Parent wonders if school will open on schedule:
A principal and vice-principal have been appointed to the new school, but staff and teachers have yet to be hired, according to Corrigan.
Wilcox is concerned that by the time new teachers are hired, they won't have the resources to prepare for what comes next.
"You're really jamming up the teachers," he said. "Teachers can't get into the classrooms, they can't get their stuff ready."
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