Mac/Mohawk downtown campus

[SteelTown]

Mac, Mohawk look at downtown
Campus talks on sharing welcomed

May 18, 2010
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
http://thespec.com/article/771263

Hamilton's two educational powerhouses are talking about collaborating on a downtown campus.

That news was shared by McMaster University president Peter George at yesterday's Hamilton Economic Summit. He told a group of about 200 of the city's political, business and civic leaders that he and Mohawk College president Rob MacIsaac have begun talking about a shared core campus.

George said McMaster would like to relocate more of its programs downtown, but that aside from continuing education in the former courthouse on Main Street, proposals haven't been backed up by a solid business case.

"A lot of people think it's easy to do these things, but it has to make sense."

George suggested the current discussions are centred on digital media, art and music programs.

"Peter and I have had very brief discussions about this," confirmed MacIsaac, an honorary co-chair of the summit, along with former Dofasco CEO Don Pether. "Mac and Mohawk are always looking for opportunities to collaborate, and it would be very interesting to find a collaboration in the downtown."

MacIsaac said the college's board of governors supports a venture in the downtown and the school has explored several other opportunities in the past.

News of the campus talks emerged during a panel discussion about downtown renewal.

Ron Marini, director of downtown renewal for the city, told summit-goers that a downtown campus is one of the keys to bringing activity and housing to the core.

Property developer David Blanchard said Hamilton should focus on convincing Toronto employers that they can save "a fortune" and give a better quality of life to their employees by relocating to Hamilton.

Hamilton has a range of incentives, including interest-free loans and tax breaks, to encourage investment and bring jobs and residents downtown.

A new initiative is aimed at targeting the 17 per cent office vacancy rate in the downtown.

Marini says the payoff of the incentives is clear. The city has loaned $13.5 million, at an interest cost of $1.4 million, which has resulted in close to $85 million in investment.

"I'm very excited about changes in the downtown. I'm seeing real improvements," said panellist Tim Potocic, owner of Sonic Unyon Records and several other properties downtown.

"I'm very excited about where things are going and the small businesses that are investing downtown," he said yesterday.

But he urged the city to crack down on absentee landlords that are letting their properties decay.

Kathy Drewitt, executive director of the Downtown Hamilton BIA, suggested the city should end its 30 per cent tax rebate to vacant properties after one year. Delegates voted to make that an action item.

In an earlier session, Mario Lefebvre, director of the centre for municipal studies at the Conference Board of Canada, said the city's manufacturing sector, building permit statistics and job creation numbers are reasons for optimism in 2010.

"We expect a very solid rebound in 2010-2011," he said.

But he cautioned that Hamilton has to do a better job of attracting immigrants, by fostering innovation and ensuring immigrants have the same chance of success as those born here.

[SteelTown]

Mohawk, Mac to talk alliance
Downtown campus on agenda

May 20, 2010
Wade Hemsworth
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/772204

For now it's just an idea, but it's one that has captured the imaginations of the leaders of Hamilton's two largest post-secondary institutions.

This week, McMaster president Peter George floated the notion of a downtown Hamilton campus where the university and Mohawk College would share space for arts and digital media programs, contributing to the core's economic renewal and building on its growing art scene.

George, just six weeks from retirement, launched the trial balloon during the Hamilton Economic Summit on Monday, and so far, it's still floating.

"Unless we start thinking about what's possible, instead of always thinking about what's impossible, we'll never get anywhere," he said in an interview.

"I think it's a really interesting idea," said Mohawk College president Rob MacIsaac. "The college would love to both tap into and at the same time try to supplement what we see as a very exciting, emerging arts scene in the downtown."

MacIsaac said he and George have just started talking about the possibility, but he, too, likes the concept of extending the partnership that already exists between McMaster and Mohawk -- one that both leaders describe as unique in Ontario.

Though it is still in the what-if stage, what George has in mind is a model along the lines of the family medicine training centre McMaster had once proposed to build at Main and Bay streets downtown, but in the realm of the arts.

Facing a timing crunch and a failed real-estate negotiation with the public school board, McMaster had to move the medical school project to its west-end research park, but George still hopes McMaster can expand its downtown footprint beyond its continuing education centre at Main and John streets.

"I like the idea of McMaster and Mohawk collaborating on something downtown that helps the city and could be a link to the growing arts community in the downtown," George said.

To move the idea into a reality would require the participation of municipal, provincial and federal governments, George said.

A realistic time frame for completing such a project, if it takes off, would be at least three to five years, he said.

So far, the college and the university have scheduled a meeting to flesh out the concept, but for now, it's little more than a hypothetical proposal that has yet to enter the formal planning process of either institution.

The growing relationship between Mohawk and McMaster, which already includes partnerships in nursing, radiation sciences, technology and the McMaster Innovation Park, could shorten the path from brainstorming to building, George said.

Above all, both presidents said any proposal would have to make business sense for their institutions.

[SteelTown]

Got some info....

Downtown Campus McMaster-Mohawk Centre for the Creative Economy
Cost: $50,000,000 to $75,000,000
In concept stage
Long term 2012-2016

[emge]

seriously? that's awesome. and i like a "long-term" that's within ten years.

what would you give the chances of this actually going ahead/finding funding?

[Jon Dalton]

New building or continuation of the Downtown Centre? You mentioned they might not renew the lease there.

[SteelTown]

Funding hasn't been determined. But it has a good chance since you have partnership with Mac and Mohawk to share the cost. No doubt they'll request provincial funding.