A venerable building at Lakeland College’s Vermilion, Alta., campus will get a complete upgrade and expansion in the coming year using $17.3 million provided by the Alberta government.
The WHT Mead animal science centre, built in 1964, will be renovated to include two more classrooms, lecture theatres, a more modern space for technical equipment and training, and upgrades to increase energy efficiency, said Lakeland College president and chief executive officer Alice Wainwright-Stewart.
“This building has been really bursting at the seams for quite a while. We’ve doubled our enrolment since 2000,” she said in an interview.
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More than 550 agricultural students and 300 environmental science and human services students make use of the building and although it has seen minor changes over the years, the college has had upgrades in its plans for a while, Wainwright-Stewart added.
“We really took the stance that we wanted to upgrade any of the structures that we had rather than building, so this is part of that plan.”
Staff, students and elected officials had input into the design, Wainwright-Stewart said.
Engineers are now finalizing plans and construction could start by the end of this year, with completion by late 2021 or early 2022.
The funding announcement was made Aug. 5 by Alberta premier Jason Kenney, who said upgrades at Vermilion College are part of the provincial recovery plan to build, diversify and create jobs.
Construction on the Mead building is expected to create about 100 jobs and provide economic stimulus for the community.
Lakeland has been expanding its programs and upgrading its facilities in recent years. It opened a new animal health clinic and dairy learning centre in 2019 and modernized the G.N. Sweet livestock research facility in 2016-17.
The size of its campus farm has increased and it plans to establish a bison herd on site.
Vermilion College was established in 1913 and now serves more than 6,400 students each year on campuses in Vermilion and in Lloydminster, according to college data.
Wainwright-Stewart said the college will offer in-person classes this fall and has been working on methods to comply with both Alberta and Saskatchewan health protocols associated with COVID-19.
