by Barbara Black

Concordia’s Board of Governors has given formal approval to proceed with construction of the science complex planned for the Loyola Campus.

The building will be located on the west side of the campus and will incorporate the existing Bryan Building. It will house Concordia’s natural science departments and Exercise Science, as well as a major component of the Psychology Department.

It is projected to open in September 2003. The total cost of the project, including the cost of relocating the current occupants of the Bryan Building, is $85 million. Vice-Rector Services Michael Di Grappa says a formal groundbreaking ceremony is being planned for later this summer.

Because the Bryan Building will be integrated into the new science complex, the Department of Communication Studies and Journalism will relocate in renovated space in Hingston Hall and the Central Building for at least three years.

“In fact,” said Garry Milton, Executive Director of the Rector’s Cabinet, “they will likely have more space there than they have in their current facilities.” The cost of the renovations will be in the order of $1.9 million. The relocation will be completed in time for the beginning of the fall 2001 term.

The Drummond Building will be renovated to house Communication Studies and Journalism permanently, but this work, estimated at $9.5 million, will not start until the science complex is finished.

Also at its regular April 18 meeting, the Board approved $6.4 million to hire project managers and proceed with detailed architectural and engineering drawings for the engineering/computer science/visual arts complex slated for Guy and St. Catherine Sts. on the downtown campus.

This downtown building is estimated to cost $100 million. While the science complex at Loyola is entirely financed by funds the university is raising from private sources, the financing of the engineering/computer science/visual arts complex will come in part from government sources, including the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

At its April meeting, the Board also gave approval for a $75-million application for grants under the federal-provincial infrastructure program to help fund the downtown construction. The university undertakes to raise $25 million, one-third of this amount.

The Board and the senior administration were aware that at their meeting, they had made significant decisions for Concordia’s future. “This is another landmark day in reaching our goal of providing the kind of learning environment that our students expect and deserve,” said Rector Frederick Lowy after the meeting.