When you're driving or walking along Saskatchewan Avenue west in Portage la Prairie, you've no doubt spotted a lot of construction activity at Portage Collegiate.

Portage School Division Superintendent Todd Cuddington says it's a full exterior renovation, continuing from last year's underpinning of the building.

"What's happening is they'll be removing all of the external covering," he says, "And replacing all of the windows, re-insulating, and then there's a roof repair that'll take place after that's completed. A roof-top air conditioning/air exchange unit will be replaced, and then a full re-do of our cosmetology lab."

Cuddington adds when the work's done, the school will have an updated, modern look.

"It'll be a split limestone rock exterior," he says, "They were expecting it to be a 28 week project, so we're talking about likely well into the first semester (for completion). Hopefully, there won't be any delays, but the building will be ready for use at the start of September."