$17M technical-vocational wing to be built at Pembina Trails Collegiate as part of rec campus

Pembina Trails Collegiate is getting a major addition that will specialize inhands-on training for students in a variety of skills.

The provincial government on Tuesday announced $17 million for a new,19,000-square-foottechnical-vocational wing that will be built onto the school in the city'sWaverley West neighbourhood.

"It will be home to programs including culinary arts, baking and pastry arts,machining technology, welding technology, human ecology and woodworking technology," Government Services Minister Lisa Naylorsaid at an outdoor announcement.

The province said construction is expected to begin at the end of this summer and be complete by September 2026 for thenew addition, which will be part of the long-planned and growing-in-cost South Winnipeg Recreation Campus.

The estimated cost of the campus has jumped by $23 million since city council first approved the budget five years ago. The original estimate in 2019 pegged it at $71 million, but a report released earlier this yearfound that costs had risen to $94 million.

"This investment doesn't just impact the families in south Winnipeg. Manitobans across the province will benefit from the increase in education and training opportunities, the increase in skilled workers and the growth in our economy," Naylorsaid.

Thetechnical-vocational wing will be part of the larger recreation campus, which willinclude three gyms, multipurpose rooms, an indoortrackand fitness area, a child-care centre and an outdoor spray pad in its first phase,said Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham.

Construction on that phase of the campus is set tobegin next year, hesaid.

"South Winnipeg is one of the fastest-growing parts of the city. In fact, it's one of the fastest-growing parts in all the province," Gillingham added. "This investment will help to meet the needs of the neighbourhood."

The campusfacility will serve a catchment area of 120,000 people. Currently, that area of the city has no community centre, no arena and no pool, Gillingham said.

"Together, we are working to change all of that.I look forward to seeing the continued progress and celebrating the completion of the facilities, phases by phase, over the next years."