Temporary school a priority, inspection of fire-ravaged Bay d'Espoir Academy takes backburner

Some students who have been out of school since parts of Bay d'Espoir Academy burned to the ground last week might be back in classes in the next few days.

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District was busy over the weekend converting the community centre in St. Alban's back to its original purpose: a school.

We're going to focus on the other part of this puzzle, which is getting a new school up and running.- Darrin Pike

Darrin Pike, CEO of the school district, says there has been "tremendous" support in the Bay d'Espoir region, after the school in Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir burned last week in what police allege was arson. 

"There's a lot of work to be done obviously, but we're erecting some walls, putting floor down in some of the rooms," Pike told CBC's Central Morning Show.

"The school is in really good shape, but obviously as we bring it up to use as a school versus as a community centre, town hall as they were using it for, there's a lot of little things to be done."

The Bay d'Espoir Academy building was one of three vital community buildings in the Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir community that burned last week. Donald Craig MacHaight, 48, is charged with arson in the fire at the school, the town and fire hall building, and the local RCMP detachment.

Optimistic about timeline

While the high school portion of Bay d'Espoir Academy is still mostly intact, Pike said the school board is focused on getting a temporary school in St. Alban's up and running, rather than assessing the damaged building.

"We're going to focus on the other part of this puzzle, which is getting a new school up and running," said Pike.

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"As soon as we get that in place, we feel confident we've got the bugs worked out of the facility that we're moving into … once that's done, we'll turn our attention to what's salvageable in the high school and then look at the long-term plan for a replacement."

Pike said he's optimistic the senior and maybe even junior high school students will be back in classes by late this week, with hopes to get the remaining students back by next week.

Friends for Milltown fundraiser

Meanwhile, some artists in St. John's are planning a weekend of comedy and music as a fundraiser to help Milltown.

Latonia Hartery, who went to school at Bay d'Espoir Academy, is one of the organizers of the Friends for Milltown fundraising weekend at The Levee in downtown St. John's.

As a former student, Hartery said she knows how vital the school was to the entire region.

"I know that there is insurance but obviously there are certain things within that school, the town hall, that is going to take some time to replace," Hartery told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

"It's going to take a long time and a lot of money to replace that stuff, but I know in times of need like this people aren't going to truly know the full suite of what they need until some time passes."

Hartery said Levee owner Gene Browne put out a call over Facebook for artists and musicians who would be interested in contributing in some way to the fundraiser. There were so many responses the fundraiser is being spread out over two nights, rather than just one.

On Jan. 27 starting at 8 p.m. comedy acts will take the stage at The Levee, followed by a reading around 10:30 p.m., and then musical acts will continue until around 2 a.m. On Jan. 28, from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m., more bands will take the stage.

Hartery said there may also be items available for auction, with money going toward a community fundraiser. She added any artist who wants to contribute something to the auction should get in touch with Browne.