Conestoga College has broken ground on the initial building at its new Cambridge, Ont. campus, as well as facilities in Waterloo, thanks to $72 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments.
Conestoga College has broken ground on the initial building at its new Cambridge, Ont. campus, as well as facilities in Waterloo, thanks to $72 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments.
The Cambridge project involves construction of a 260,000-square-foot structure housing two facilities, for phase 1 of a proposed one-million-square-foot campus build-out.
The 200,000-square-foot School of Engineering and Information Technology will focus on training in advanced manufacturing, robotics, renewable energy, telecommunications and information technology.
The 60,000-square-foot Institute for Food Processing Technology will focus on advanced skills training in areas such as food safety, process automation, industrial electrical systems, refrigeration technologies and plant management and supervision.
The project, which is being fast-tracked, is being designed by Moriyama & Teshima Architects. LEED Silver is being targeted.
Conestoga vice-president Kevin Mullan said the college hopes to have a construction manager on board by mid-October.
The master plan for the 130-acre Cambridge campus was completed by the Walter Fedy Group in conjunction with the GSP Group and du Toit Allsopp Hillier.
In the works at the Waterloo campus is a 12,400-square-foot, stand-alone facility for the Conestoga/Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association roofing skills training centre.
A design-build contract has been awarded to Collaborative Structures Ltd. Mullan said sequential tendering of subtrade contracts is expected.
Also planned in Waterloo is a 10,000-square-foot HVAC skills training centre. Tenders are not expected to be called before December or January, Mullan said.
Some funding will be used for an expansion and renovation to support motive power skills training at the Guelph campus.
The expansion plans got a thumbs-up from Martha George, president of the Grand Valley Construction Association.
“We’re hoping that the Cambridge campus contract will be awarded to a local contractor,” she said.
“But even if that is not the case, the project is still good news for the industry because typically local subcontractors are employed.”
Conestoga has campuses in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and Stratford.
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