The Open Door: Campus construction projects start to take shape

One of the projects I’m pleased to report on is the opening of the new Graduate Student Residences, located in East Campus Village. These LEED silver-certified residences will offer 234 beds to graduate students and are the first residences to open since International House in 2004. The four new residences have been a truly collaborative project with support and involvement from the Graduate Students’ Association as well as the Garneau community.

At Augustana Campus, we are celebrating the opening of the new Student Library Forum, a project three years in the making and funded primarily by the province. While the library has been open since 2009, the forum, which provides student and staff common space as well as faculty and staff offices, was opened in July 2010.

In addition, the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Edmonton Clinic North are nearing completion and we’ll see them open in 2011. Both of these projects, along with the skylight replacement and re-roofing of HUB Mall, and the expansion of the cooling plant on North Campus, will mark the completion of some of the significant infrastructure development built with capital funding from the province over the last few years.

The federal government’s Knowledge Infrastructure Program has also provided us an opportunity to complete a number of priority renewal and fit-out projects. Over the course of this program, you will see renewal work taking place in the Chemistry West and Biological Sciences buildings, as well as the Chemical Materials Engineering Building. This program has also funded a number of building connections between our facilities south of 87 Ave. such as the Education Building, the Walter C. MacKenzie Health Sciences Centre and Edmonton Clinic North. In addition, funds received through KIP resulted in a 90 per cent fit-out of both the Li Ka Shing Institute for Health Research and Innovation and the Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that traffic volume around campus will noticeably increase as students return in September. Alberta Health Services has notified us that the lane closures on 114 St. will continue through to the end of October 2010. You can learn more about this project by visiting www.edmontonclinic.ca/TrafficDisruption114Street.cfm.

Facilities and operations staff takes pride in our work and we are committed to working with student and staff associations to ensure each of our campuses are welcoming and well maintained. We will continue to work closely with government to ensure we have an alignment of priorities and needs. We appreciate your ongoing co-operation as we work to complete these projects. 

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