Minister impressed with progress of U of L’ s Destination Project
Project is on budget and ahead of schedule
The provincial minister of advanced education is impressed with what he sees of the new Destination Project building under construction at the University of Lethbridge.
Marlin Schmidt was in Lethbridge on Thursday to tour the new Destination Project at the university. It was the first time the minister has visited the development since the announcement it was moving forward with funding.
“It’s going to be an exciting space, and provide a lot of opportunities for students to learn in modern environments,” he said. “It’s going to create a lot of opportunities for the community to be involved with the University of Lethbridge.
Schmidt has a background in science and holds a master of science degree in applied environmental geosciences as well as a bachelor of science. He said he was impressed with some of the features he saw in the Destination Project.
“As a past chemistry student, I was really jealous of the fume hoods,” he said. “It’s a pretty impressive HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system they’ve got. My lungs wish I’d had that kind of learning environment when I was taking chemistry in school.”
Schmidt said the Destination Project is a key part of growing the number of spaces available to students for post-secondary education.
“We’ll have spaces for 1,800 students in the new project,” he said. “I’m really excited about the opportunities that will mean for the future.”
Sydnee Calhoun, a fourth-year biochemistry major from Lethbridge, said there is a lot of excitement from students for the completion of the project.
“The updated labs will help out a lot in terms of the experiments the university is able to provide for students,” she said. “They are a lot larger, so people won’t be as cramped.”
She was also impressed by the use of glass walls, which will allow students to check out work being done in other areas of study.
U of L President Mike Mahon said the Destination Project is ahead of schedule and on budget.
“The building is really starting to come up,” he said.
He said work may be completed by the end of 2018, but there will still be months of testing and preparation before it is ready for students.
“What we’re seeing is we will probably have a bit more lead time, which is fantastic,” he said.
Mahon described Canada as “having a moment” in terms of quality of educations and opportunities for both national and international students. Particularly from the U.S., where the current government has taken an antagonistic stance with many of its science departments.
“We are seeing real interest in our universities both from students and faculty,” he said.
“I think part of it is that people see Canada as being a very open country that is really supportive of science education and research.”