By Andrew Scherban
The backhoes and the bulldozers will soon be a familiar sight again as Cambrian College is set to begin construction on a $3.5-million residence complex for students.
The new building will be located behind the Laamanen Centre and adjacent to the existing residence on Barrydowne Road. The three-storey building will have approximately 50 units and will house 100 students.
The individual units will feature a two-bedroom suite with a small kitchen area consisting of a mini-fridge and microwave. Each floor will also share a common room, which will have cooking facilities available.
Cambrian currently still houses students at the old Regent Street building, (at the Memorial Hospital site) but, due to factors such as location and the age of the building, the building was sold to a group from the business community. The money from the sale will go toward the construction of the new residence closer to campus.
"Location was not advantageous to students residing there and taking classes here," Aldo Favot, director of college services, said. "By selling Regent Street we wanted to maintain a level of service for people coming from outside the community, or for people residing in the community to have a secure environment."
Favot also sees this residence as being very beneficial to first-year students.
"Second and third-year students tend to migrate into the community, for the first-year students this will be a real benefit as an adjustment to this type of lifestyle."
Currently, Cambrian staff are working out the details of the design parameters with successful bidder, architects Nicholls, Yallowega, and Belanger. Construction on the project is set to begin this summer.
