A special ceremony is paving the way for construction of a new Catholic elementary school in Chatham.
A ‘blessing of the ground’ was held at the site of the south Chatham property on Tweedsmuir Avenue West earlier this month.
Indigenous partners from Walpole Island First Nation were invited to perform smudging ceremonies.
“When we smudge, we speak prayers,” said Cedric Isaac of the Walpole Island First Nation. “We smudge to bring good things. We pray that everything with these new schools will be good; that it will be positive for all the students and teachers.”
The new school will consolidate students from St. Ursula, Georges P. Vanier, and St. Joseph
The $24.6 million project to build a new 564-pupil elementary school includes plans for a three-room child care centre.
“This investment is critical, not because of the bricks and mortar, but because of the precious people that are going to be inside this building,” Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Trevor Jones said.
It’s hoped the school should be finished in February or March, 2024.