Work to add a new wing onto the Pictou campus of the NSCC began in late September and is on schedule, with the walls expected to be in place in January.
Work to add a new wing onto the Pictou campus of the NSCC began in late September and is on schedule, with the walls expected to be in place in January.
The 28,000-square-foot addition is being constructed at the back of the school. Freckelton said the design uses tilt-up walls, and when completed will have solar hot water and geothermal heating.
The Trades Innovation Centre will house four programs – carpentry, cabinetry, motor vehicle repair and heavy-duty equipment – which are now located in “fairly small quarters.” Freckelton said this limits the number of students that can be accepted into these programs.
“(When complete) we can add students to those programs. Right now some max out at 15 students,” he said, adding that the fumes and loud noise associated with those courses can also be disruptive to other learning environments in the school.
“We’re going to do something very innovative,” he said, explaining that the cabinet making and carpentry programs will be functioning at the same time in the same space. “We’re really hoping they’re going to learn from each other.”
Once the building is finished and the programs are relocated, the space where they’re currently situated will be renovated to create more classrooms, study rooms, a fitness centre, student lounge, and to expand counselling services.
“The thing that I’m really excited about is once we move into the new space, we can bring more programming in and increase services,” said Freckelton. “In the space left behind, we’re hoping to add more programs.”
The top floor of the addition will be the innovation space, where he said entrepreneurship and innovation-type activities will take place, such as a mentoring program he hopes to develop. “We’re trying to think outside the box here,” he said.
The space is designed to be adaptable, so that years down the road it can offer different programs if needed.
“We want to manage it that way, we want that flexibility. The imagination should not have any limits to what we can do with this space,” he said.
The total project cost is $15.1 million, with $3.2 million of that amount going toward the renovations.
The last time NSCC expanded was in the mid 2000s, when an $11.7 million renovation changed the look of the front of the building, and added a new trades shop, library, learning commons, bookstore and coffee shop, as well as two enclosed courtyards.
Due to the current construction, the school has lost almost 300 parking spaces at the back of the property. “It’s creating an awful lot of frustration for parking,” Freckelton said.
Students are able to park at the Sobey Soccer Complex, with NSCC providing a shuttle to the campus. A new parking lot is also being constructed off Grant Street, and Freckelton said about 100 spaces will be available there for the 750 students and 100 staff of the college.
“We realize it’s created pressure on Grant Street because it’s narrow,” he said, noting that he’s meeting with town staff to come up with a solution.
The Trade Innovation Centre is expected to be finished in March 2018.