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Thursday, September 16th, 2010 Breast Cancer Support Services ht t Oakville Executive Golf Course 18 Hole Mystic Ridge $115 per golfer Shot Gun StartGolf Carts Available (fee) If you arent golfing, please join us for dinner at the Burlington Convention Centre GolfPrizesGamesBeer/WinBeer/W e Tasting DinnerSilent Auction For more information or registration, call 905-634-2333 or email: lstevenson@breastcancersupport.org In support of TOURNAMENT OF HOPE Blair Lancaster Spa & Modeling Smiths Funeral Home Oakland Ford Lincoln *Limited time o er, call for details. Free Regal Broil King Barbeque or free installation of a Coleman HEAC3000 Hybrid Air Cleaner or $800 O Coleman accessories with the purchase of CP9C Furnace and TCJF or AC5B or AC 8B Air Conditioner. Products may not be exactly as shown. Enjoy the Great Indoors and Outdoors this summer! Get a FREE* Weekend Getaway or a Coleman High Efficiency Air Cleaner or a12 month deferred payment** with the purchase of a select Coleman Heating & Air Conditioning System. Free Estimates Limited time offer, call for details. OAC Products may not be exactly as show . * 7 Thursday , Septem ber 2, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF As expected the new St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School facility is not ready for the start of this year, due to an earlier setback, but school board officials are optimistic it will be ready for the start of semester two, as planned. The new building, larger and with more classroom space was originally slated to open for the start of the 2010/11 school year. However, a delay in the issuance of a building permit from the Town of Oakville postponed the start of construction from spring of 2009 to that summer. Now, construction is well under- way and the Halton Catholic District School Board superintendent of facil- ity management services, Giacomo Corbacio, said roughly 800 students will be in new classrooms to start the second semester, between January and February this year. Everythings fine, he said. Well be ready to occupy the new building. Were still on track for the end of January, beginning of February, whenever that first day of Semester 2 is. The new building is being con- structed on the same site as the old one. The old building had three wings: the middle section which included the gymnasium and cafete- ria, the tech wing and a three-storey section with the main office and classrooms. The three-storey section had already been demolished and the office was moved to the other parts of the school and the displaced class- rooms were moved to 24 portables on site. The rest of the building has remained in use. When the new building is com- pleted and the staff and students make the move, the remainder of the old building will be demolished and the space converted into parking space and other uses. Students and staff will have time to move their things during the break between the two semesters and then some time after that to pick up anything they may have missed. Theres no real rush or panic. It will be a smooth transition, Corbacio said. Corbacio added that the students will have a large portion of the new school for use by February. There will be sufficient space open to have occupancy. There will be items to complete still. The school may have some rooms that arent fin- ished, he said. He said because the new building is larger than the old one, even though some rooms may not be fin- ished, there will still be room for studies. When the move to the new one has been made then demolition of the old one will begin, sometime shortly after the start of the second semester. The new school will have more large spaces, more program facilities in terms of a larger cafeteria, larger library, larger gymnasium, it has a theatre in place, some specialty pro- grams for music and improved dance program, he said. The new facility will be a wonder- ful addition, he added. Plus there are currently no technical shops at St. Thomas for auto manufacturing and construction. Were getting three new shops and a teaching kitchen as well. Theres a lot of new and exciting pro- gramming features at St. Thomas. New St. Thomas Aquinas will open next term COMING SOON: The new St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School (left) on Dorval Drive and Lakeshore Road is under construction, but will be ready next term. In the meantime, students will use the existing (right) facility for the fall term. MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER