As a new multimillion dollar trades building is being erected at the Interurban campus, Camosun College is also facing a constantly growing deferred maintenance debt that, if not addressed, could result in college-wide safety and occupancy issues, according to Ian Tol, director of physical resources.
Researchers at the provincial government estimate Camosun College requires over $100 million to address all of its maintenance problems, including renovations to aging buildings at both campuses. Tol says the college is working hard to “protect its assets” by lobbying the government and exploring other funding options.
This year the college received a paltry $1.7 million in provincial funds, $900,000 of which will go towards new roofs for the Fisher building at Lansdowne and Trades and Technology building at Interurban.
“It’s tough to prioritize our maintenance projects because it’s like a constantly growing debt if you don’t address it,” says Tol. “This is only going to get larger, so we’re struggling. We’re trying to provide an environment that’s safe, but also appealing to students.”
The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) is also worried about the general condition of the college. Other postsecondary schools in BC are facing similar predicaments.
“The CCSS is concerned by the lack of funding that the BC government makes available to maintain the college,” says Lansdowne campus executive Madeline Keller-MacLeod. “Currently, the college is protecting students from issues arising from the crumbling state of many of our buildings.”
Keller-MacLeod points to an incident in 2011 where a window fell off the side of the Fisher building and crashed onto the pavement below. The question is if the college can’t secure enough funding to eventually address the myriad problems, what options will they have left?
“Well, that’s a good question,” says Tol. “I suppose that if we aren’t able to address a failure in a building and it becomes such that it can’t be occupied, then we’d have to close the doors. I’m not saying that I think we’re imminently at the doorstep of that happening, but if we’re not able to address the issues that face us, and a building can’t be safely occupied, then we’d have no choice.”
And while Tol says the college is “very grateful” for the funding to erect its new multimillion dollar trades building at Interurban, he also admits the irony of building new when existing buildings are badly deteriorating.
“I can see that it seems to be a bit of a competing interest,” he says, “but the existing buildings would require such a level of investment to bring them up to standards that it would almost cost the same in the end. Also, with the programs running year-round in the existing buildings, we decided a new building was the best option.”