The long-awaited sod-turning on the new Foothills School Division and provincial building in High River has finally happened.

The school division has been looking for a new headquarters for years and the provincial building had to come down because of damage in the 2013 flood.

School board Vice-Chair Michael Pollard says the division's glad to see it move ahead.

"It's terrific, I'm amazed it's happening as fast as it is happening, because sometimes some of these projects, they're ten years in the development," he says. "It's a measure of the commitment of the province to High River and it's recovery."

He says there was never any discussion of the division leaving high river after the flood.

Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead says the building, which will house local provincial departments as well as the Foothills School Division administration, is very important.

"Investing in infrastructure across the province is something that's very important and one of our top priorities as a government, you know it acts as a central hub for communities and a place for people to access important services that they rely on around the province," Westhead says.

The $19-million building's expected to open in about a year.