Selkirk College has hired a project manager and architect for its $18.9 million refresh of Nelson’s Silver King campus.
Project manager Tomer Curiel of Colliers Project Leaders and architect Ray Wolfe of Stantec will help guide the college through a major renovation of its trades training facilities and addition of a student commons space that will transform the aging campus into a modern learning centre.
“This is a major step in this exciting project that will see a campus that is more than a half century old brought up to standards to better serve our students of today and into the next 50 years,” says Gary Leier, vice-president of college services. “Both Tomer and Ray have impressive backgrounds in their respective fields. We are excited to work with them as we embark on this project for the community.”
Curiel is a senior project manager and leads Colliers’ Kelowna office. He led projects such as Kelowna’s police station, Westbank First Nations Youth Centre, the business case for the Kamloops Performing Arts Centre, and Simon Fraser University’s Shrum Science Renewal project.
“We’re pleased to be part of this project,” says Curiel. “When complete, the Silver King campus will provide students and staff at Selkirk College a facility that enhances the quality education they receive in the classrooms and shops.”
Wolfe is Stantec’s education sector lead for BC. He has been involved in major post-secondary projects at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops and the University of BC Okanagan in Kelowna. He most recently transformed an abandoned Canadian Department of National Defence site in Chilliwack into a new campus for the University of the Fraser Valley that was awarded the 2013 World Architecture News best-in-class for university buildings.
“The process of design is collaborative, transparent, integrated and constantly evolving from project to project,” says Wolfe, who is based out of Stantec’s Vancouver office. “This is a complicated renovation, but we are looking forward to designing something that the entire community can be proud of.”
The Selkirk College project team has been engaged in meetings with Curiel and Wolfe over the last few weeks to lay the important groundwork for the project. The group has been gathering input and assessing details that will be vital to the process as it moves forward. Designs are expected by late May with work beginning shortly after.
“Due to the nature of the renovation and the complexities of continuing to offer seamless educational opportunities for our students, this project will take until August 2018 to complete,” says Leier.
In November, the provincial government announced a $14.2 million contribution towards the project that has been in the works for several years. Selkirk College has also received $1 million from the Columbia Basin Trust and $600,000 from the federal government through Western Economic Diversification Canada. The remainder of the funds for the project will be provided through a fundraising campaign.