Image of groundbreaking at North Building on Oct. 16, 2012

North Building groundbreaking touches past, looks to the future

Jane Stirling

U of T Mississauga celebrated a historic groundbreaking today, turning the sod for a new building at the exact location of Erindale College’s first temporary structure – the North Building – that opened in 1967.

The first phase of the multi-phase North Building reconstruction will feature four storeys with improved theatre rehearsal space, computer labs, classrooms, offices, informal study space and an expanded food services area. The Departments of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, and Psychology will have offices and research facilities in the renovated space. The first phase is scheduled to open in September 2014.

“The reconstruction will provide our students, staff and faculty with facilities better suited to their work and more in keeping with their excellence – spaces that will support and inspire them in teaching and learning, discovery and innovation,” says U of T President David Naylor.

In June 2011, the provincial government announced $52.5 million in funding to renovate the North Building and teaching laboratories in the William G. Davis Building. U of T Mississauga will contribute $22.5 million for a total cost of $75 million. The project team for the North Building reconstruction consists of representatives from the University of Toronto, U of T Mississauga and Eastern Construction.

“This reconstructed facility will make a significant difference in the delivery of educational programs on this campus,” says Professor Deep Saini, vice-president of the University of Toronto and principal of U of T Mississauga. “It will help us accommodate student growth and provide up-to-date facilities that match the wired and digital needs of young people today. The quality of our built environment, and facilities that stimulate and inspire will play a huge role in our students’ success.”

U of T Mississauga’s enrolment has doubled in the last 10 years, to more than 12,000 students this fall. Current needs, combined with planned enrolment growth of up to 20,000 students, increases the demand for more and better learning spaces, Saini says.

“This groundbreaking ceremony marks the continued efforts of the Ontario government to ensure that students from across the province have the best facilities available to them,” says Harinder Takhar, MPP (Mississauga-Erindale) and minister of government services. “For UTM, it continues the transformation of the campus into a world-class, cutting edge institution unrecognizable from only a decade ago.”

The Davis Building lab renovations – part of the government’s $52.5 million allocation – will create “wet” labs for biology and chemical and physical sciences students. So far, five biology labs and one anthropology lab, accommodating more than 250 students, have been renovated. Additional “wet” teaching labs will be renovated over the next three years.

Backgrounder about the North Building

CONTACT:

Jane Stirling
Marketing and Communications
University of Toronto Mississauga
905-569-4350
jane.stirling@utoronto.ca