Excessive spending and failures in the FACE school's renovation undertaking

The FACE school, a renowned bilingual institution specialising in fine arts, located in Montreal, has been embroiled in a contentious situation. The Quebec government decided to put the school up for sale due to a projected cost of 375 million for its renovation, deemed too high.

Secondary school students continue to study at the school on Saint-Urbain Street, awaiting the completion of the renovation. However, the CSSDM (Commission scolaire de Montréal) was forced to halt the project, unable to risk continuing without Quebec's commitment to foot the bill.

According to Stéphane Chaput, the CSSDM's Deputy Director-General of Material Resources, most of the $375 million bill can be attributed to the need to completely renovate the electrical, ventilation, heating, and plumbing systems, as well as the need to empty the entire building.

The renovation project included significant additions to the school, such as a recreation courtyard on the roof, a third gymnasium with an outdoor courtyard on its roof, and moving the cafeteria from the fourth floor to the ground floor. These additions likely contributed to driving up the renovation project's budget.

Architect Richard Lafontaine suggests that elements considered superfluous, such as the third gymnasium, could have been removed to reduce the project's cost. He believes that the building of FACE is recoverable and that a less ambitious project could have been presented to architects.

Mr. Chaput estimates that cutting the courtyards on the roof and not having a tunnel to the boiler room for a gymnasium might have allowed the bill to be reduced by at most 50 million. However, he notes that if Quebec decides to release the necessary funds for the renovation of FACE, the CSSDM will be there to carry it out.

The Quebec government's decision to abandon the renovation project in favour of moving all students to renovated buildings in the long term has sparked a mobilisation of parents and students trying to preserve the unique building of FACE from being sold to private hands.

There is no information available about the architects responsible for the renovation project of the FACE school or suggestions for the use of the former boiler room. The CSSDM does not want to start a project knowing that they might not have enough money to complete it.

Some 650 primary school students have started their school year in a building on Christophe-Colomb Avenue, on the Plateau Mont-Royal. The FACE school, with its heritage significance, remains a symbol of artistic education in Montreal, despite the current challenges it faces.