Ideas for a new “healthy living learning hub” at Algonquin’s Woodroffe campus is part of the five-year plan that will be presented to the college’s Board of Governors in June.
The new development will probably be near the A-building and include student-run services like the dental clinic and hair salon.
“That’s the dream,” said Barbara Foulds, dean of health, public safety and community studies,
“Certainly that’s the vision, to have a facility that will be able to showcase those initiatives.”
The goal of the hub is to increase the physical, mental and spiritual health of the college and outside community. Services could include nutrition assessments or seniors’ fitness classes.
“We can sit back and wait for some of these things to happen around us, or we can be proactive and start to be a leader in these areas,” said Foulds.
The hub will look a lot like the first floor of the A-building, which is actually phase one of the development.
“From a personal perspective this has been very much a dream of mine, to really coalesce some of the health education in one location,” said Foulds. “We’re scattered all over in a variety of different buildings.”
The healthy living hub is only one of the ideas generated by the five-year plan team, which includes Physical Resources and a team of consultants.
In February, consultants from BuildGreen Solutions surveyed students and staff about their campus likes and dislikes, which will inform the plan’s priorities.
BuildGreen consultant Sarah Birch-Jones said she was surprised by the high number of students who stopped to fill out a paper survey instead of doing it online.
“It’s been a while since we’ve done a campus plan,” said Phil Rouble, associate director of facilities planning and sustainability. The last plan was completed in 2000.
The plan’s five-year timeline gives the college enough time to approve, fund, design and construct a new building, said Rouble.
“I really like the chance to shape the campus, to make the college an exciting and vibrant place to work and learn,” said Rouble. “We’ll holistically look at the college and get it ready for a very exciting and unknown future.”