Province grants $51.6M to rebuild London's Regina Mundi Catholic College - Action News
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London

Province grants $51.6M to rebuild London's Regina Mundi Catholic College

The Ministry of Education has granted additional funding to rebuild Regina Mundi Catholic College in south London, Ont. The London District Catholic School Board says the extra funding will be used to meet rising material costs.

The Catholic school board says the new building will be finished by 2026

A digital picture of the front of a Catholic school.
London District Catholic School Board has released renderings of the new Regina Mundi Catholic College in south London, Ont. Construction is scheduled to start in spring 2024. (London District Catholic School Board)

The Ministry of Education has granted the London District Catholic School Board $51.6 million to rebuild Regina Mundi Catholic College (RMCC) in south London, Ont.

The current building will stay open while the new building is constructed, said Debbie Jordan, superintendent of building and corporate services with the school board.

"The actual new location of the schoolis not in the exact same place. It's on the same property, but adjacent to it," she said.

The original budget for the school was a little over $19 million, she said, but delays to the project, recent inflation and the cost of demolishing the existing buildingcaused the cost of the project to increase.

Map.
A map of the planned Regina Mundi Catholic College replacement shows the new school is on the same property, but not in the same location, allowing the old school to continue running during construction. (London Catholic District School Board)

RMCCwas originally a junior seminary for boys, whichopened in 1963 for 60 students. The school later became a boarding school and was converted into a regular high school in 1983. In 1987, the school welcomed female students and became co-ed.

Jordan said the new school will still keep some of the old building's design elements, including stained glass windows, but will have modern features students need, like new classrooms built specifically for the specialist high skills major program.

The new school, which is planned to start construction in spring 2024, will have room for 700 more students, which Jordan said is needed in the region.

Other planned expansions in the near future include an $11.1 million addition toSt. Michael's Catholic Elementary School in Woodstock, which will make room for 230 new students.

"We are expanding. Our population is increasing tremendously. Many people are moving into our area as well. So we'll be moving forward with additional capital priority plan plans and projects as well," she said.