It’s fall at Capilano University, students are freaking out about their second week of classes, buses are finally running to Cap at normal intervals… and our campus has turned into one giant construction site.
The first, and most expensive, is the new Film Centre, going up next to the old film building in the field behind the Maple Building. Director of the film program, Bill Thumm, confirms that “the construction is running on schedule, to be completed by the end of March ... [the construction workers] have been working all summer.”
This summer, on top of the $30.2 million in “economic stimulus” money from the federal government in August 2009, Capilano University received an additional private donation of $6 million from Nat and Flora Bosa. The Bosas are well known for their philanthropy, and their donation is the largest private donation the university has ever received. The money is intended to go towards providing film students at Cap with top-notch technology, such as “high definition and 3-D filmmaking equipment, a 200-seat high definition/3D theatre, industry-standard sound mixing and recording studios, an 8,000 square foot sound stage, picture editing labs, sound editing labs, digital and commercial animation labs, a teaching studio for cinematography, costuming studios, and two visual effects labs,” which will all be a part of the new building.
Though greatly beneficial to future Cap film students, the construction has affected the upper bus loop, as well as parking in the immediate area. Skeena Road is now a no-parking zone, and after 8 pm, vehicle traffic will be blocked off. Access to Parking Lot 3, while not restricted, will be affected due to the evening closure of Skeena Road. Use of Parking Lot 4 by any vehicles other than public transit is restricted, and it is under an immediate tow policy. All of these restrictions will be in effect until the beginning of the January semester.
The good news for students short on pocket change is that while these restrictions are in effect, Parking Lot 2 will be considered a Zone 3 lot, and will therefore cost a dollar less in parking fees. However, there are now 18 per cent less parking spots at Capilano than usual.
The second, less flashy, but more mysterious piece of construction is happening at the Cedar building. Students who have classes there, or in the nearby Fir and Library buildings, may have noticed that the entire building is covered in scaffolding. Moisture damage to the outside of the building has resulted in the need for a full envelope replacement. This has not affected the classes inside the building however, and the construction will in fact be finished within the next couple weeks, says Building and Grounds Director Ian Robertson. This kind of problem, he says, is not unusual for buildings constructed in Vancouver during the late ‘80s and ‘90s (think leaky condos).
Parking immediately in front of the Cedar building is affected to allow for construction trucks to come through, and signage is posted in those areas. Additional parking has been created for persons with disablities on Monashee Road, and those areas have also been signed.
Although the campus is currently under construction, classes themselves remain relatively unaffected.
//Celina Kurz
Writer
