Lambton College is expected to break ground on two new buildings this spring.
“We’re going to have a great opportunity to construct the health building and the athletic fitness centre together,” college president and CEO Judy Morris said in an update to Lambton County council Wednesday.
Plans are for the $30-million Nova Chemical Health and Research Centre to be built beside the $12-million athletics and fitness complex on the east side of the college property.
Construction on the 100,000-square-foot project is expected to start next September, following a groundbreaking ceremony in March. The facilities are expected to be ready for student use in the summer of 2018.
“(The buildings are) going to be very, very significant in terms of size and in facing onto Modeland Road, it’s going to change the landscape of Lambton College,” Morris said.
Nova Chemicals recently donated $2 million towards the proposed health and research centre set to be used by a variety of students, including nursing, massage therapy and paramedics. Earlier this year, the federal and provincial governments stepped forward with $20 million after the county pledged $5 million towards the project.
The 60,000-square-foot health centre will include nursing bays, a retail pharmacy and simulation space in close proximity to each other, a 125-seat lecture hall and active learning classrooms without fixed furniture.
“(The classrooms are) tricked out with the technology and the design to bring students in a collaborative manner,” said Spencer Dickinson, the college’s vice-president of corporate performance and employee relations.
The 40,000-square-foot athletic centre, meanwhile, will be home to a varsity-sized gymnasium that can be divided into two areas and a 4,000-square-foot fitness studio.
Both the college’s existing gymnasium and its greenhouse – set to be relocated for the project – will continue to be fixtures on the campus.
“(The existing gymnasium) will be heavily utilized by the programs and the community as well,” Morris said.
The two new facilities will be the first new free-standing buildings built at the college campus since 1972.
“In terms of space at the college, we have lots of room to expand,” Morris said.
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