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New Lab Building to be built
by Matthew Obrigewitsch
the Carillon
Tired of construction yet? Well the end is not yet in sight. Saskatchewan Learning Minister Judy Junor announced on September 12, the approval for a planned $32-million addition to the existing Lab Building.
Site preparation will be taking place this fall, with construction beginning sometime after the final exams of the winter semester. At present, the construction phase is anticipated to take 18-20 months.
Chris Eagan, assistant director of the Physical Plant, is the project manager for this endeavour. “We should be done two years from [September 19th]. Then it will take four to five months for the different faculties and researchers to move in and get set up.” The new facility should ready for the Winter 2006 semester, just over a year after the completion of the current construction on the new residence and kinesiology buildings.
The new Lab Building will be constructed in the area between College West and the existing Lab Building. It will run east to west and encompass the current linkage between the two existing buildings. The design focuses heavily on complimenting the existing Academic Green and not taking any more space from the foliage.
In terms of what this new facility will offer, it’s not just for research. Two large teaching theatres, similar to the ones in the Classroom Building, are in the blueprints. Several smaller seminar rooms, two teaching labs and several study areas are also planned, but any of that is liable to change.
“When I’m talking about the building, you’ll hear me use the word ‘capacity’ a lot. That’s because it’s still in the planning stage. The new building will have the capacity for 48 wet-bench lab modules, and 14 dry-bench lab mods.” Eagan says.
The building will also feature the necessary support rooms for the labs, including freezers and a chemical store, along with a greenhouse and a herbarium.
Eagan says the public will be kept well informed about this project. “We plan on using the Lab Café to post pictures of what the new building will look like, similar to the ones in the Physical Activity Center. Information about our monthly public meetings (the first was on [September] 18th) will also be posted [in the Lab Café.]”
Those wishing for more information can find it at the U of R Construction website: http://www.uregina.ca/construction/
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