The Trades and Technology Complex will reshape and reenergize SAIT’s campus, said Boris Dragicevic at the Trades and Technology Complex open house January 28.

SAIT employees, students and neighbours came to hear Dragicevic, SAIT’s director of campus expansion, and Wayne King, VP for corporate services discuss the complex’s progress.

Building development, impact on students and project funding were key factors in the open house discussion.
Despite challenges presented by the economy, King remains confident SAIT will forge ahead as planned. “We always run our place very conservatively, so we can afford to build a hell of a lot more with the same amount,” said King.

In January, PCL Management Inc. won the bid to become the general contractor for the construction of the Trades and Technology Complex. In the next thirty months, the SAIT campus will be bustling with construction workers and heavy equipment.

With six cranes set to work on the site by next summer, student safety and accessibility are top priorities. “Students will be sharing the roads with construction vehicles, trucks and trailers,” said Dragicevic. “But all exits are being accommodated.”

Dragicevic and King displayed plans to connect the east and west sides of campus, create more parking spaces, set up a new food service franchise in the south wing of the Complex, and make campus environments more appealing to students.

Construction of the south wing of the Trades and Technology Complex has already begun. As it is the smallest building in the Complex, it is expected to be completed first, sometime in 2011. By the end of 2012 the Trades and Technology Complex will be fully operational.