Chinook School Division completes tender process for Stewart Valley School rebuild

Posted on 26 October 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

By Matthew Liebenberg

mliebenberg@prairiepost.com

The process to rebuild Stewart Valley School reached a key milestone with the completion of the competitive public tender process.

The Chinook Board of Education approved the awarding of tenders to contractors and vendors during a regular board meeting, Oct. 13.

Chinook Chief Financial Officer Sharie Sloman said after the meeting the school division is pleased with the progress.

“The board has always been committed to rebuilding out there and so they are very happy, just like everybody else, to see that things are moving forward now with that project,” she mentioned.

The total value of these tender allocations to 21 different companies is $5,867,313 (excluding taxes). She noted that there are no outstanding tenders for this project.

“This should cover it all unless we run into something as we’re going along,” she said. “But as far as we know, this should cover all the tenders for that.”

The work that will be carried out as a result of this board decision varies from earthworks and site services to concrete forming, masonry, metal siding, roofing, doors and frames, windows, drywall, flooring, painting, mechanical and landscaping.

It also includes tender allocations for window blinds, gym equipment as well as electrical, access control, surveillance and security systems.

The tender process was managed by Quorex Construction and advertised on SaskTenders. She was pleased about the allocation of several tenders to local Swift Current based contractors. They are Knudsen Excavating, LMO Landscaping, Riverside Electric and Melhoff Electric.

“We were very happy to see locals,” she said. “We provided names [to Quorex] and we put it on SaskTenders so that everyone local had the opportunity, if it fit in their schedule to do it, to put a tender in and hopefully be successful with their tender.”

The previous school building and community centre in Stewart Valley was destroyed in a fire caused by lightning on Aug. 26, 2022.

Site work got under way and the installation of pilings were completed in February 2024, but thereafter work came to a halt due to a decision by the insurers to carry out a review. The Chinook Board of Education filed a statement of claim with the Court of Kings bench against the various insurers in March 2025.

The provincial government announced in July 2026 that it will contribute up to $6 million to bridge the gap between funds available through insurance proceeds and the total cost of rebuilding the school.

Sloman mentioned that construction work has resumed and the completion of the tender process will contribute to more site activities.

“They were doing concrete forming this past few weeks,” she said. “I believe they did a concrete pour out there last week. It will just be continuous from now as long as suppliers line up.”

The total estimated project cost will be around $10 million, but it has not yet been finalized due to ongoing discussions with the insurers.

“We are still in negotiations,” she said. “So we can’t really talk too much about that. We’re just still working with them to determine where we’re going to land with that.”

The school division hopes the conclusion of these negotiations with the insurers and the financial commitment from the provincial government will not leave a shortfall on the construction cost of the new school.

“Our plan is not to be [left with a bill],” she said. “With the partnership from the Ministry [of Education], we’re hoping that we’re covered. If it doesn’t, then yes, Chinook would be, but that was never the intention of the board. [The] Board was always committed to rebuilding as long as it was covered with insurance proceeds.”

Tenders approved for first stage of upgrades at Swift Current high school:

The Chinook Board of Education approved the tenders for the first stage of a multi-phase modernization project at Swift Current Comprehensive High School (SCCHS).

The tenders to seven different companies were awarded during a regular Chinook board meeting, Oct. 13.

One local contractor, Riverside Electric, is among the successful contract bidders. The work during this initial phase will include site preparation, mechanical, electrical and building code upgrades, as well as the installation of safety controls.

The total value of the tenders approved for the first phase is $11,551,872. This amount is about nine per cent below the original budget estimate of more than $12.6 million for the first stage, which is a cost saving of $1,142,600.

This initial saving will lower the overall projected cost of the four-phase modernization project from $35.79 million to about $34.65 million.

The site preparation work such as the removal of ceiling tiles was scheduled to start in the week after the tender approvals and other contractors will be on site towards the end of October or early November.

Sloman noted that the school division is already carrying out the process to approve the work package for the second phase of the project. The work will proceed in stages to make it possible for regular school activities to continue without interruption.

“We do not foresee any things happening,” she said. “We will work around having a fully operational school going. … And then when the students aren’t in the building in the summertime, the air handlers and those types of things are going to get changed out.”