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News Release |
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For Immediate Release
March 01, 2010
Smithers Campus renovation hitting full stride
Until now, the project has been very weather dependent, and the construction crew has been fortunate to have a mild winter on its side. Now that the cement has been poured, and is curing, the progress is less dependent on the weather and will be much more visible from now on.
Nonetheless, the project has gained the attention of the community, with local schools paying visits throughout the process that began in the fall of 2009.
Just recently, Taryn Lowe’s Grade 3 class from St. Joseph’s Elementary School came to visit the construction site as a field trip on the subject of foundations, very timely considering the pouring of the foundations and concrete slab. St. Joseph’s school is NWCC’s neighbour in Smithers and the class’s visit allowed College staff and faculty to build relationships in their neighbourhood and community, says NWCC Smithers campus principal Regina Saimoto.
“Having school-age children come to the campus builds familiarity with the College,” said Saimoto, adding the field trip integrated college activities with the elementary school’s curriculum, such as “structures” and “community.”
In the end, however, kids will be kids and much of their attention was aimed at the heavy machinery on site.
“They really liked the big machines,” said Lowe. “But overall, it was very interesting and the students like getting to know what is going on in their community.”
With the pile driving and concrete pouring now complete, the project will continue to a new, less intrusive phase, but project workers have appreciated the patience shown to this point by those affected.
“This is a difficult site to work in logistically but the people of Smithers seemed to be very understanding that the noise and long hours were necessary (during the pile driving), said Paul Miller of Unitech Construction and the construction site superintendent. “We were very lucky to have experienced and competent sub-trade workers to complete this portion of the project.”
The $16.7-million project is jointly funded by the provincial and the federal governments through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program.. Once completed, the campus will be consolidated into one building and will provide expanded opportunity to accommodate additional programs and courses.
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For more information contact:
Dave O’Leary
Chief Information Officer
Northwest Community College
Phone: 250.638.5402
Toll-Free: 1.877.277.2288
Email: doleary@nwcc.bc.ca