A Catholic elementary school in Nepean will be closed for quite some time after sustaining excessive damage from the devastating storm that swept through Ottawa on Saturday, May 21.
St. Monica School, located on Merivale Road in Ottawa's west end, was hit by some large uprooted trees, causing damage to most of the school's roof, the membrane and its mechanical ventilation system, making it unsafe for students.
"We are likely looking at a longer term solution," said Thomas D'Amico, the director of education with the Ottawa Catholic School Board in an interview with CityNews Ottawa on May 24. "It will depend of how much of the building can be safely secured so if we can portion off the parts that are damaged and still have safety measures in place and mechanical ventilation to those areas, then it could be next week we can have students back."
D'Amico said if it's not possible to place safety measures due to the damage caused by the storm, other options will have to be considered, including remote learning and the possibility of transporting St. Monica students to other schools.
"We will be spending the week assessing options at that school, whether we can get partial occupancy back or we will have to look at other arrangements for students at that site," he added.
