Better late than never.

The pandemic has thrown many twists at us, and among them is attempting to schedule timely sod-turning ceremonies.

On June 4, two Alberta cabinet ministers were briefly in Cochrane for a ceremony to recognize the construction of the new K to 9 catholic school in the Fireside neighborhood.

Education minister Adriana LaGrange and Infrastructure minister Prasad Panda both spoke at the recorded event. Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) officials, Mayor jeff Genung and Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie. were also in attendance at the closed event.

The rising walls of the new school will be visible in the recording of the event. A video is expected to be released soon.

Mayor Jeff Genung was among those making speeches. Afterward, he said he took the opportunity to briefly discuss Cochrane issues with the ministers, particularly highway congestion.

The new school is just across the field from the K-8 Fireside School of the Rocky View School Division. The new school will have the capacity to accommodate 825 students and is tentatively scheduled to open in the fall of 2022.