Montgomery Middle School replacement gets green light from Coquitlam council

The new Montgomery Middle School’s development permit is signed and sealed, following a unanimous vote from Coquitlam council Monday.

Located just west of the current school, the new three-storey, $86.5-million Monty is set to accommodate 600 students and 48 staff members when it opens in 2028. The current school, which was built in 1962, has 505 students enrolled.

The plans for the site include a future parking lot on the old school as well as a space for portables.

“To pick on our province who said we’ll never see any more portables in our schools, this is being designed with portables,” observed Coun. Dennis Marsden.

The old school is set to be demolished once the new, seismically upgraded Montgomery school is built.

The project also includes approximately $400,000 worth of roadwork and other upgrades in the area.

Upgrading the roads is expected to result in: “conflicts with existing municipal infrastructure, while providing limited additional public benefit,” according to a city staff report.

The roadwork is expected to entail chopping some of the mature trees on the west side of Montgomery Street and building a new retaining wall near Kugler Avenue. Staff advised the wall could “significantly constrain” the ability to work on the watermain.

The school is set to be designed to produce significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the old school, according to a release from the Ministry of Education.