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From today's NB Nugget:

College approves 'vision' for growth; Nipissing must also accept plan

Bryn Weese
Local News - Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Updated @ 11:02:56 AM

Canadore College's board of governors approved Tuesday night a land use master plan that will guide development at its joint campus with Nipissing University over the next two decades.

The only caveat is the plan also has to be approved by Nipissing's board of governors.

The first such plan, which outlines what type of development can go where and what it must look like, was developed in 1968. It has been updated three times since - in 1992, 1996 and 2001.

Rapid development, particularly at Nipissing, outdated the land use plans faster than previous boards imagined, said Ewen Cornick, a board member at Canadore.

"What's happened, particularly on the university side, was there was such rocket development with respect to the buildings, that the plans that we anticipated lasting for 10 to 15 years were extinct within a five-year time period," he said.
"This is a good comprehensive plan and I think it's given us quite a vision for the two institutions to follow for the next two decades."

Focusing on 10 priorities and including 38 recommendations, the current plan says parking should not dominate the feel of the campus as it currently does from the front, and future development should complement the natural setting of the campus, not work against it. That means future buildings should be limited to two or three storeys and should not extend beyond the tree line.

The master plan also calls for the west side of the pond to be set aside for future residences.

"What the master plan is is a series of guidelines for future development dealing with the physical aspects of the campus," Cornick said.

"What types of activities should be located on which areas of the campus and also the types of environmental and energy guidelines we should be following."

The price tag of the plan is approximately $200,000 to be shared equally by Nipissing and Canadore. It was developed over 15 months with architects and planners, as well as input from other interested stakeholders.

While it does not offer an estimate as to how much money will be spent on development and infrastructure upgrades over the next 20 years, Cornick predicted significant investments will be needed within 15 years.

As examples, he mentioned $1.2 million over the next five years to upgrade the electrical systems of the two campuses (of which $1 million is already committed), a sustainability plan for the joint facility, and approximately $20,000 for a storm water management plan, the latter of which will be required before the city will approve any future building permits for the campus.

Infrastructure costs, as well as the costs to build joint facilities, will be shared by both the college and the university, but the costs for individual campus development, such as Canadore's new media centre and arts centre, will not be shared.