Mayor would like to see college reinvest in Niagara Falls
The way Mayor Jim Diodati sees it, Niagara College is not leaving Niagara Falls.
Diodati believes the college’s announcement Tuesday it will be selling its Dunn Street property and moving its programs to the Welland and Niagara-on-the Lake campuses could lead to a “more meaningful relationship” with the city in the future.
The mayor said he would like to see the college reinvest the money it makes from the sale of the property back into a “more meaningful and appropriate location” in Niagara Falls, and continue discussing ways to partner with the municipality on plans for a downtown education incubator and business hub.
“That Dunn Street location is not the best location for a campus and especially since we’ve identified the downtown, the Queen Street area, as that node,” said Diodati.
“We understand that location doesn’t make sense. We’re saying we still want you to be committed to Niagara Falls. We’re saying don’t go spending the money. Put it in a reserve account for partnering with Niagara Falls on some of the stuff that we’ve been discussing over the last few years.”
He said plans for a Ryerson University presence downtown are still alive, despite the university’s proposal for federal grant funding being turned down last year.
And if the city is successful in luring Ryerson to the community, there could be an additional partnership with Niagara College, said Diodati.
“For us it’s all about partnerships and it’s all about bringing different partners bringing different things to the table,” he said.
“There’s certain things that Niagara College offers that Ryerson may not and vice versa, so we see coming together and building on each other’s strengths in a partnership.”
He said the city has had ongoing discussions for the last three years and Niagara College has been a part of those talks.
“They’re well aware of our plan and I just want to make sure that the public knows that we’re still having these discussions.”
Diodati said the city is not “going after” a traditional university or college campus.
“It’s not a traditional learning facility in the traditional sense of a university or a college. We’re hand-picking strategic programs,” he said.
“Our desire is a post-secondary presence with a focus on a digital media zone and an entrepreneurial village where we’ll develop, nurture and foster entrepreneurial ideas.”
Diodati said on many occasions, entrepreneurs have a “great idea,” but they don’t know what to do next.
“It will be a job factory as we incubate and commercialize good ideas.”
He said small- and medium-size businesses are the “backbone” of the economy.
“If you can help small- and medium-size businesses get established and help them to commercialize and develop, you’re going to create incredible opportunities, and then when they do it in the downtown and they’re living in the downtown, they’re going to feel a sense of ownership in the downtown. We’ve got a very strategic approach to post secondary in our downtown, which includes Niagara College, but not in the traditional sense.”
In a release issued Tuesday, college president Dan Patterson said the decision to close and sell the Dunn Street campus coincides with $65 million in redevelopment projects slated for the Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake locations.
The Niagara Falls campus was
There’s certain things that Niagara College offers that Ryerson may not and vice versa, so we see coming together and building on each other’s strengths in a partnership.” Mayor Jim Diodati
home to hairstyling, hospitality and tourism management, and international business management programs.
It has about 70 students and 30 staff.
Niagara College media advisor Susan McConnell said current classes will not be interrupted as the closure is going to happen when classes are finished.
In an email to Diodati sent Monday, Patterson said no jobs will be affected by the decision.
The Dunn Street campus is approximately 27 years old.
“As we have just made the announcement about putting up Dunn Street for sale, I would like to emphasize that we are in the very early stage in the process of the sale and I would not want to speculate,” said McConnell, adding college officials met with Diodati last week where the sale was discussed.
“We very much look forward to continuing to have a dialogue with the city around future plans and how Niagara College can continue to play a role in the Niagara Falls community.”