Sault College proposes $22 million campus re-build (photos)

Sault College will unveil details next week of a major campus rebuild project.

Ron Common, the college's president, will speak about the $21.5 million proposal at Monday's meeting of City Council.

Documentation sent to city councillors in advance of the meeting shows 15,350 square feet of new construction and 43,500 square feet of refurbished buildings.

The construction includes iE3 - a new institute of environment, education and entrepreneurship that will allow expansion of the college's natural environment programs.

It includes new applied research space where industry and community partners will work alongside students and faculty.

Also planned is a new elevator and surrounding common space in E Wing.

Much of the current Sault College campus was built five years before man first walked on the moon, and 27 years before Dr. Roberta Bondar went into space on the space shuttle Discovery.

Dr. Common will emphasize project benefits including:

• innovative new design and equipment will attract students to Sault College and Sault Ste. Marie
• reduced building operating costs
• reduction in deferred maintenance costs of $37 million
• 166 jobs will be created during the construction
• new 'green' buildings will reduce Sault College's greenhouse gas emissions

Sault College has 2,262 post-secondary students, about 720 of whom come from outside the area and spend $11 million a year in the community.

It has 67 international students who contribute more than $1.6 million to the local economy.

The college is applying for funding for the rebuild project under the $2-billion Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund announced on April 6 by Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.

Algoma University is also hoping to get building cash under the infrastructure program.

On April 28, the university's board of governors agreed to apply for three projects including an $18 million, four-storey addition to its biosciences and technology convergence centre.

Monday's City Council meeting will be livestreamed on SooToday.