LET THE FINGER POINTING BEGIN
University declines Martin building
Local leaders expressed disappointment and frustration Friday as word got out that the University of Windsor has given up on creating a new law school inside downtown Windsor’s iconic Paul Martin Building.
“We’ve made the decision that the Paul Martin Building is not an option,” university president Alan Wildeman told the Star Friday.
The decision, communicated earlier this month to the municipality, province and federal government, came after more than five years of intense lobbying by the city and the university.
“I can’t recall how many trips I’ve made to Toronto” to try and make the downtown deal happen, Wildeman said. “We have to turn our attention to other options now,” he added.
“No one’s to blame,” he emphasized.
But others were quick to point fingers and identify the province as the culprit.
“Two out of three levels of government were willing to do their part — the province didn’t do its part,” said MPP Lisa Gretzky (NDP—Windsor West). “It’s a huge hit, very disappointing.”
The City of Windsor had promised $15 million to the university for interior upgrades to the building on Ouellette Avenue, and the federal government, which recently completed a $3-million facade restoration, had an agreement in place to hand the building over to the municipality for a dollar so it could be transferred to the university.
“It’s extremely frustrating. From the city’s perspective, this was very important,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said of the failed effort. He said “a framework for a tripartite agreement” had been established and that there had been “multiple conversations with the premier, deputy premier and other folks … this is very disappointing.”
For “quite some time,” said Dilkens, the conversion of the Paul Martin Building, a heritage-listed property, into a law school was a top priority of the city’s and designed to be “a significant boost” to the downtown’s economic fortunes.
“The province was simply not able to find the funds,” said Wildeman, adding all three levels of government had to contribute to make the project financially viable.
Wildeman said the university has long outgrown its current law school facility, which is outdated and bursting at the seams with about 700 faculty, students and staff. “We made it very clear the Paul Martin Building was our No. 1 option,” he said.
The current and former mayors of Windsor had made luring the university’s law school to the downtown a top political priority, in particular for the economic stimulus it would provide.
Dilkens said a large number of students drawn to the local law school are from outside the Windsor area and therefore need accommodation.
Having a law school in the downtown would be “a key part of revitalizing the core … we would have seen more stores and businesses opening up,” said Gretzky.
“Now that we’ve made our decision, we can turn our attention to other options,” said Wildeman. He said the university, which has already begun developing a campus footprint in the core, would be “open to looking at” other downtown locations, but that it would be “a completely unknown opportunity … we’re not aware of any other (available) locations.”
Wildeman isn’t keen on criticizing the provincial government over its lack of commitment to the Paul Martin Building given its past and ongoing funding support. “I really want to emphasize that the province has been a great supporter of our university,” he said.
Dilkens said he’s unsure whether the city can find an alternative municipal use for the soon-to-be vacated federal building on Windsor’s main commercial street. About 300 Canada Revenue Agency employees currently working there will be leaving next spring.
The mayor vows he’s not giving up the fight just yet.
“Absolutely. The window is closing very quickly … but this would be a terrible project to lose. I still have some hope,” said Dilkens. He said the province’s portion for the law school conversion would have been $20 million.
“It looks dismal right now, but it’s not over,” added Gretzky. It was community pressure that got Ottawa to commit millions to restoring the building’s crumbling facade, and the community must come together again to pressure the provincial government into making the downtown law school a reality, she said, adding next year is an election year in Ontario.