It’d be a bit premature to say the new wing of the college is complete, but it’s well on the way with large portions including new shops for automotive and carpentry as well as cabinet making and heavy equipment repair truck and transport now in use.
“We opened it up last Monday,” said campus principal Dave Freckelton. “They're still doing some tidying up and there are some pieces that they’re still finishing off, but students are in the shops.”
Construction of the new wing, which adds 38,000 square feet to the existing community college, began last September and has continued on time and on budget, Freckelton said. He gives credit to their management team as well as Bird Construction for making it happen.
The new wing was designed to further the trades programs and cost approximately $15.2 million, which came from the federal and provincial governments.
Renovation of the space that the shops are moving out of is expected to be complete by the end of the calendar year.
One of the biggest changes students and staff would have noticed when they arrived at the campus this year was the change in parking. A new lot has been added to the rear of the building and now with the majority of the construction complete, it’s accessible for students.
“Now we have ample parking. Our contractors are parking there, plus our students, and we have parking places that are still not being used,” Freckelton said. “Parking will not be an issue this year, I’m pleased to say.”
The new building will also be environmentally efficient, certified to LEED Gold standards with geothermal heating as well as some solar panels and a solar wall. There will also be parking where electric cars can charge.
“Our carbon footprint really is non-existent back there,” Freckelton said.
The layout of the shops has changed as well. While in the past the automotive and heavy duty equipment repair truck and transport operated in separate shops, they are now in one larger open shop. The same happened for the carpentry and the cabinet making departments.
“We’re hoping the learning will go back and forth and will be integrated,” Freckelton said.
The height of the new shops, which are 2 1/2 storeys, will also transform the way students learn.
Carpentry instructor Kevin MacIntosh said the larger shop will allow them to create more life-sized projects as opposed to baby barn-sized projects they did in the past.
“It’s going to allow us to do many projects at once,” he said.
Some other features of the new wing include small spaces for students to work on projects in small groups. There’s also a testing area that will be Pearson certified so that people can take official tests like the GED there. Another space was designed as an area that the community and those at the college could meet to discuss ideas or projects.
Eventually Freckelton believes the expansion will allow them to add some new programs, but they are waiting until this project is completely finished before moving ahead with that.
“Right now we’re looking at new programs for 2019,” he said.
