New High School Planned for Cold Lake

Lakeland Catholic School District plans to build new 500 student High School in Cold Lake

“That’s huge! That’s really exciting!” Mayor of Cold Lake, Craig Copeland, confirms that Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) has approached the City for land near the Energy Centre to build a new high school. “Having the [new high school] by the Energy Centre is going to be fabulous! I look forward to that project and we’re going to work with them for placement on where the high school will be.”

Mayor Copeland say preliminary discussions have identified an ideal location for the high school to be north west of Northern Lights School Divisions (NLSD) Cold Lake High School; making for some great (friendly) rivalries between the two institutions. “It really speaks to why Council put so much money towards the Imperial Park Master Plan. It’s going to be an amazing spot over time, with the new arena being put in next year and the high school to be funded over the next few years. It’s going to be pretty awesome!”

Transcript from the City of Cold Lake August 23rd Council Package:

The proposed design capacity of the high school is 500 students.  Further discussion will ensue on the size of land outlined in the letter, as 15 acres is a considerable size (approximately double the land mass of existing NLSD High School, inclusive of the parking lot), and will have significant impacts on the Imperial Park Master Plan and the Energy Centre Master Plan.  We are anticipating that the 15 acres is inclusive of opens spaces around a typical stand alone high school, which is not directly comparable to this type of development (similarly, when the NLSD built the Cold Lake High School at the Cold Lake Energy Centre, it was developed in approximate 6 acres).

The Energy Centre and Imperial Park Master Plans include a twin field house, a gymnastics/dance studio, a swimming pool/leisure centre, artificial turf football field and a second arena; to be completed over multiple years.

According to City documents, the discussion between the City of Cold Lake & LCSD for a new high school has been going on for several months. With the idea of keeping the school central and uniting North & South Cold Lake, the Imperial Park/Energy Centre was most appealing to both the City and LCSD.

*LCN has contacted LCSD for further details on whether the school is approved to be build from a District level and a timeline for construction. LCN has yet to hear back, but will keep you posted as this story develops.