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A new report shows the estimated cost of restoring Waterloo’s Elizabeth Ziegler Public School is $14.5 million.
The estimate was shared in a quarterly update report for major capital projects by the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB).
The school was shuttered after bricks fell from the outside walls back in March 2025, forcing a closure that at first lasted just two days, then two weeks, and then until 2027.
The same report also mentions three other projects, which are all brand new public schools.
When compared, the cost of building the new schools is significantly higher than the estimated cost of the Ziegler restoration project. The projected budgets for the new schools is $32.4 million to build P.S. Breslau-Hopewell Crossing in Breslau, about $25 million to build Willow River P.S. in Kitchener and about $25.6 million to build a new public school in south east part of Cambridge that is scheduled to start classes this September.
When asked about the cost to repair the Ziegler building, WRDSB sent CBC News the following statement from its director of education, Scott Miller:
“Waterloo Region District School Board staff remain focused on supporting the repair, restoration and enhancement of the Elizabeth Ziegler Public School building, and have been busy completing the necessary pre-construction steps to allow construction to begin,” the statement reads in part.
“I am proud of the work that Facility Services staff have done to complete the prequalification process. We anticipate that the project will be tendered in the coming weeks. Once this step is complete, WRDSB staff will work with the successful general contractor to begin work at the Elizabeth Ziegler Public School site as quickly as possible.”
What’s wrong with the Ziegler building?
An engineering report released in June 2025 showed there are many issues with the building, beyond the crumbling façade that had first led to the school’s closure since March 2025.
In the report, engineers had discovered additional issues with the building, including steel-beamed headers, floor and roof joists that are moderately to severely corroded, posing “safety concerns to any occupants inside or around the building.”
Among many other structural issues, engineers also found the building has “a significant number of window openings with very little load bearing masonry between the windows to support the gravity and wind loads.” They recommended a new interior steel frame to reduce the load on those walls.
The board had said they plan to repair the school by installing a new steel frame on the interior, with new foundations to support it. Once that has been completed, repairs to the façade will begin.
The report from June 2025 included several pictures documenting displaced bricks, classrooms with significantly slender walls with no reinforcement and metal corrosion inside the brick walls.
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