Students will decide value of Abbott’s new building

You don’t build $45-million buildings often in a lifetime. So, after all, whatever you felt about it, it was a bit of a triumph.

We were drinking pink champagne contributed by the SAQ for the Inaugural Gala Celebration of the new Science and Health Technologies building at John Abbott. All the usual suspects were there: MNA Geoffrey Kelley, newly minted in the Opposition and once himself a teacher at John Abbott; MP Francis Scarpaleggio, whose father was the first financial officer at John Abbott before he took on the direction of Vanier College. Three former directors general were in attendance: Keith Henderson, who nursed this building project through nine stop-start years; Gerry Brown, who retired from directing John Abbott to run the Canada-wide college association for 10 years; and founding father, Bob Burns, who set the tone and ambition for John Abbott back in 1971 before returning to a long and distinguished teaching and acting career.

Chandra Madramootoo, dean of the senior campus college, McGill University’s Macdonald College, was on hand to salute the arrival of this new sister-space dedicated to scientific culture. I think the word I heard being lobbed over the canapés was “synergy.”

Teams of bright-eyed and frankly enthusiastic John Abbott students were there to show us around. The architect himself was there to witness the official recognition of his construction. The current director general, Ginette Sheehy, spoke at the elegant dinner with eloquence and humility about her role at the end of the building process. Eric Schmedt, John Abbott’s muscular 21st-century dean, who was himself a popular science teacher, was rubbing his hands over the excitement this new science building has generated for scientific pedagogy.

Critical murmurings there were. What does David Suzuki of the silver tongue have to do with this event? And Green Party Leader Elizabeth May for that matter? Well, this building is also about that other buzz word: “sustainability.” The Green aristocracy was there to give their blessing. Local star Ryan Young and his students had even made a mood video with marvellous shots of vistas seen from the new space.

The whispers continued. Shouldn’t the money spent on this evening, on a giant outdoor candlelight celebration have been recycled into student bursaries, for example? And what about some words of praise for director general Luc Henrico, who managed the first building phase at John Abbott, including the construction of the Casgrain Building? His father, Joseph, was principal at École St-Georges for many years and Joseph’s name is attached to the French primary school in Baie-d’Urfé. And, as far as I know, it was Luc Henrico’s acquisition of the land at Fairview, the sale of which later provided the bulk of the funds for the new construction.

But, after all, it was a night of triumph, a fall night to look out over the darkened campus from the sixth floor of this very modern building with overtones from the great modern architect, Frank Geary’s Art Gallery of Ontario design and echoes of the structural curiosities of the Pompidou Centre in Paris. You may not like where it stands (and McGill must accept responsibility for not taking advantage of John Abbott’s earlier offers to renovate Brittain Hall, which is now sadly crumbling on the western side of the campus). But this building is a modern space, open-ended, durable and outrageous in its dimensions and designs. It is too tall, too big, too crowded in, too open. It is in your face and it will endure as an monument to scientific education.

There are many people who will find this building a desecration of the old campus, but I suggest that you take a look inside. Sir William Macdonald, the founding father of the Macdonald campus, had a deep passion for education, for students. And the students I talked to love the building.

And, frankly, what else matters?