FORTUNE BRIDGE, P.E.I. - The new community centre being constructed in Rollo Bay needs a name.
A committee has been set up to gather suggestions from locals that reflects the Francophone community of eastern Prince Edward Island.
Marise Chapman, committee member and principal at Ecole La-Belle-Cloche in Fortune Bridge, is looking forward to getting into the new French school, which will be housed in the community centre and is scheduled to open by the end of January-early February 2018.
For more than a decade, the community has been lobbying for a new school, and that dream is becoming a reality, Chapman said.
“It’s been a long process to get here, we’re pretty happy that we’re finally at that point (of naming the school),” she said at a public meeting in Fortune Bridge on Oct. 19.
“It’s been a long project, but every time we’re on site it looks more and more like a school and a community centre every day.”
With a budget of $8.2 million ($6 million provincial funding and $2.2 million federal funding), the new school/community centre will also have a daycare.
The building will be 44,000 square feet and will be able to house up to 150 students. The current enrolment at the existing French school, Ecole La-Belle-Cloche, is 94 students, 13 teachers and a support staff.
The names suggestions should take into consideration the location of the facility, the historical and cultural aspects of the area, and/or highlight the exceptional contribution of individuals.
Suggestions will be accepted from now until Nov. 2 and can be sent by email to school secretary Tina White at [email protected] or dropped off at/mailed to Ecole La-Belle-Cloche, 95 Route 310, Fortune Bridge, PE C0A 2B0.
