U of W engineering site already chosen?

An interesting story in todays Windsor Star. Following weeks of speculation and anticipation (it was widely anticipated that the location of the University's new Engineering Campus would be made immediately following the Oct 10 provincial elections) the Windsor Star prints this...

Engineering centre site to be chosen in 6 weeks

Monica Wolfson
Windsor Star
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

University of Windsor officials are expected to announce a location for the Centre for Engineering Innovation within the next six weeks. "Your patience won't be tested for too much longer," president Ross Paul said Tuesday at a board of governors meeting. University officials have two key meetings with architects on Oct. 29 and Nov. 12.

An announcement on where the building -- or two buildings -- will be constructed should follow those consultations. "We have huge pressures to get this done," said Paul, who declined to be more specific about a timeline for an announcement.

It's unlikely the university will build a tower because Paul said they're more expensive. "A low facility takes up more room, but it's cheaper to build," Paul said. The building will contain classrooms, research areas and manufacturing courtyards, which Paul said can be "warehouse"-like wings. The $110-million project can be one large facility or two smaller buildings integrating teaching, research and manufacturing courtyards at each location. Paul said university officials need a "clearer concept" of the facility to attract partners and launch fundraising efforts.

$20 MILLION NEEDED

The university needs $20 million in additional funding to pay for the project, because it has been promised $40 million from the province and has issued $50 million in debentures. Board member Matthew Moroun, who is vice-chairman of Centra Inc., asked if the construction contractor would be signing a guaranteed price contract and who would be in charge of change orders. "The project will stay within budget," Paul said, after making a presentation about how teams of school administrators would manage the project. The board would ultimately approve large expenditures, but the project will be managed day-to-day by a steering committee of board members, senior university executives and a yet-to-be-hired program manager. "Change orders will go through the steering committee," said Neil Gold, provost, who will head up the steering committee. "(Engineering Dean) Graham Reader and the executive group will deal with those issues as they arise." Paul said the university has a reputation for building projects within budget. The new medical school was originally supposed to cost $20 million, but had a price tag of $24 million when the shovels went into the ground last spring. Paul said the additional costs aren't part of the medical school. The money will go to add a third floor onto the medical building for research space.

© The Windsor Star 2007

Reading between the lines of this article clearly points the reader to believe that University of Windsor president Ross Paul has already made up his mind to move out to the suburbs with the new campus. He appears to be doing a little pre-emptive justifying by saying vague statements like "It's unlikely the university will build a tower", and "A low facility takes up more room, but it's cheaper to build"

The province needs to put stipulations on their $40 million grant, in the spirit of their belief in "Smart Growth", and force the University to build downtown. This is taxpayer money they're doling out, and while I believe that spending on education is clearly one of the best uses for our money, I don't believe that it should be spent encouraging suburban sprawl.

This choice seems to be tilted towards accomodating the Universty's out-of-pocket expenses, not taking into consideration the costs being downloaded onto the municipality to take care of infrastructure costs. Total cost economics must come into play when discussing huge expenditures of public money. This is not even taking into consideration the incredible life-line a downtown campus would provide to our floundering core.

I believe a letter to Sandra and Dwight is in order...