Planning the student centre on St. George campus is taking longer than expected, university president David Naylor told Governing Council last Thursday.
A planning committee was set up last fall to recommend how and where to build the new student activity hub, most likely the area dubbed “site 12,” on Devonshire Place across from the Varsity Stadium. The plot is currently a parking lot.
“[The committee] is still deliberating,” said Naylor, adding that the planning report may be delivered to the planning and budget committee at the beginning of March. One reason that planning is lengthier than expected is because Governing Council is considering changes to the upcoming expansion to Varsity Stadium.
The next phase of the stadium involves the addition of a three- to four-storey structure, the Centre for High-Performance Sports, which would house offices and athletics space.
“There may be economies of scale in locating Varsity Stadium infrastructure on site 12,” Naylor speculated.
St. George campus student leaders have been lobbying for a student centre since the 60s. UTM and UTSC each boast such hubs, which have been partly paid for through student levies.
“All of these concepts have to be considered carefully,” Naylor said. “While timing matters the most, it’s important to get it right.”
Paging Prof. Byer
With the planning committee’s report on the proposed St. George student centre delayed until March, few governors saw the need to trek through the snow to last week’s meeting of Governing Council’s Planning & Budget committee. A rough count found that only 18 of 29 members were present.
Their questions were few.
“Gee, where’s Phil Byer?” chair Rose Patten quipped during a dull moment, inquiring after the civil engineering professor whose steady stream of queries usually keep the committee’s meetings lively.
Carpe surrounding property
After nixing plans to move and expand onto “site 12” across from the Varsity Stadium last year, U of T’s Faculty of Law is proceeding with planning to build up its current site on Queen’s Park Crescent.
Due to recent enrolment growth, both Law and the next door faculty of Music are among the most space-starved faculties on campus. One hurdle for Law will be getting planning approval from the city to build on its Queen’s Park site, which contains two heritage buildings: Falconer Hall and Flavelle House. The former building may be handed over to the Faculty of Music.
Another piece to the puzzle is the Royal Ontario Museum’s former planetarium, whose fate remains unknown. In 2005, residents’ groups killed a proposed 46-storey condominium tower that was to replace it.
U of T plans for 2030
Unlike many of its students, the university is currently hashing out its next 20-plus years.
“We expect pressure will be held for 10 to 15 years on enrolment,” said president David Naylor, citing the baby boomers’ kids-the so-called “echo” generation-who are entering university in record numbers.
All three U of T campuses have room left for expansion, and the university’s real estate strategy, revised last month, mentioned the need to acquire more land for the downtown campus.
Naylor hinted at the potential for a fourth U of T campus, but he assured governors that U of T’s “Revision 2030 exercise” would be discussed and unveiled over the coming months.
