First look at Caneview

The Iberia Parish School Board now has possession of Caneview Elementary School, which it declared “substantially complete.”

The board held its regular meeting Wednesday in the cafetorium, a cafeteria-auditorium hybrid, of the newly completed school on Frontage Road near the intersection of U.S. 90 and Darnell Road. By unanimous vote, the board declared the building ready for students and staff to move in.

Before the meeting, the board and dozens of parents and students took advantage of a walk-through that enabled them to see the new building firsthand.

Caneview is expected to draw about 550 students from Peebles Elementary and Grand Marais Elementary schools. Construction of the approximately 70,000-square foot school, designed by architect Alton Darby of New Iberia, built by Bunkie-based general contractor M.D. Descant and funded as part of the 2004 $62 million bond proposition, was set back when Hurricane Gustav hit the Teche Area Sept. 1.

Superintendent Dale Henderson said the move-in process is scheduled to begin today and is estimated to take about a week.

“The students will end the school day at Pebbles Elementary and Grand Marais Elementary on Friday and begin at Caneview on Dec. 1.,” Henderson said, adding the time around the Thanksgiving holiday is an “ideal time to move in.”

In addition to the cafetorium, Henderson said another important feature of Caneview is its technology infrastructure.

“We’re going to provide the kind of technology that students in a 21st Century classroom deserve,” Henderson said. “It’s a beautiful, modern, high-tech facility all under one roof, and the design allows for easy monitoring of students. It will serve this community for generations to come.”

Darby gave a tour of the building, pointing out features such as the canopy area in the front of the building where school buses unload and the state-of-the-art fire/sprinkler system, which passed inspection Nov. 12 by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

“The building is basically a square, the most economically efficient design there is, for energy efficiency,” Darby said.

Fourth-grader Lanie Lopez, 9, toured the building with her mother, Lisa. Lanie said she likes her new school building.

“I like the new desks and classrooms,” she said.

Board member Edwin Buford Jr. said he thinks Caneview is conducive to students learning.

“The taxpayers should be proud,” he said.

Board member Danny Segura thanked Iberia Parish taxpayers for approving the bond issue and thus enabling the school to be built, and Mark Herbert of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office spoke to the board on the behalf of Landrieu.

“You’re doing it for the children, for generations to come,” Herbert said in praise of the building’s hurricane-force wind resistant design. “This is the perfect example of what needs to be done, not just in Louisiana but all across the Gulf Coast.”