Bianca Bharti, Daily Herald
The University of Saskatchewan plans on spending over $5 million on renovations for its new building that will bring together its colleges sprinkled throughout the city.
According to SaskTenders, a website that hosts the province’s open and closed tenders, the university is currently seeking bids for the Prince Albert Northern Gateway Hub.
It will combine the colleges of nursing, medicine, arts and science, kinesiology, agriculture and bioresources and pharmacy and nutrition — which is currently spread across three different locations in Prince Albert.
The building, located at 1061 Central Ave., used to be the forest centre. It sits on 2.39 acres of land.
In the university’s tender, they have budgeted for $4.7 million for construction costs and $684,000 for furniture costs, excluding GST and PST.
The new facility will feature a seven-chair dental clinic, including a dental lab, reception and dental sterilization. It will also include one 80-seat lecture room, two 60-seat classrooms, two 50-seat classrooms, two 15-seat classrooms and two 15-seat distance learning classrooms.
In their plan, the successful proponent will begin construction by the end of June next year to allow for a fall 2020 open date.
The facility is meant to give post-secondary access to many of Saskatchewan’s northern communities, as Prince Albert is considered the gateway to the north.
Nearly 50 per cent of the University of Saskatchewan’s students at the P.A. campus were Indigenous for the 2017-2018 school year, according to the university’s website.
