(File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

College campus

N.B. ready to commit to new college campus project

Sep 11, 2024 | 12:12 PM

The future of North Battleford looks collegiate.

Plans for a new North West College campus are complete, and now the city will ink a formal proposal to both the province and the college with hopes to eventually move forward on the project.

“This is a really exciting project, it’s something that I know that administration and the mayor and council have been working on for the past five or six years,” said Randy Patrick, city manager, during Monday night’s council meeting.

The proposal will include a cost analysis of the development on a six-acre plot of land earmarked for the project. The build would be roughly $7 million and located near the InnovationPlex. The city would invest $5 million with the remainder covered by the college. Infrastructure upgrades would include expansions to Heritage Way and Carlton Trail, a new storm pond and a new build on Moosomin Drive.

The city also hopes that by having the school located next to the recreational and arts complex, it would add to the students’ experience.

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“I think when you enter this community and you see a new college right beside a beautiful recreation centre, it brings a whole new look,” Patrick said.

According to Mayor David Gillan, the college is in need of expansion as they are currently renting different locations around the city.

“There’s a long waiting list to a lot of their programs,” he said, noting they have been working with both college administration and the Ministry of Education to develop a plan.

“This is all about the future; we want to have more opportunity for our young people to go to college right here in the Battlefords,” he said.

Gillan explained they’re also looking to attract skilled labour to the community.

“We’re a very large health hub here, a very large education hub, we want to keep developing that. We need people with education – we don’t want everybody going off to Saskatoon and never coming back,” he said.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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