Brodie centre reno worth $52 million

The NDP government’s injection of $52 million to renovate the Brodie Science Centre at Brandon University will guarantee the facility’s future, says Kofi Campbell, BU’s acting president and vice-chancellor.

Campbell said he was told about the multimillion-dollar figure Wednesday morning by Premier Wab Kinew and Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable before a news conference that was held at the university.

“Absolutely thrilled,” Campbell told the Sun on Friday. “This has been a huge priority for us for quite a long time, so this is incredibly important for our future. We are all extremely ecstatic with this news.”

The upgrades to the 55-year-old building and its facilities will make the Brodie Science Centre state of the art, allowing the university to acquire new equipment to replace some of the pieces that are getting on in years, Campbell added.

“Without these renovations,” he said, “it would have been very hard for the Faculty of Science to continue producing the excellent level of research and scholarship and teaching that we have been able to do so far.

“We expect in this year we will get some money from the government to finish our scoping of the building, to make sure that we have our plans and everything ready to go, so that next year we’re shovel-ready to get moving on these renovations.”

That preliminary work is being paid for with the government’s initial commitment of $2 million, Cable told the Sun Friday afternoon. The entire $52 million will come from her department’s long-term capital budget.

“Well overdue,” Cable said of the project. “It’s been in discussion for some time and we’re at a point where it’s critical for students in the Westman region to have good labs and good study space.

“It will be a phenomenal investment for industry. And as we continue to build up the health-care workforce, this is going to be key.”

The $52 million was not announced during Wednesday’s news conference, but the province confirmed the amount on Friday.

“It was a bit of a combination announcement (Wednesday) in that we are expanding the training seats to ensure that we have more doctors in the Westman area,” Cable said.

“The end of the day, it’s a great announcement. Great for students in Westman, and I’m so thrilled.”

Kinew held the news conference at BU on Wednesday to announce a doubling of doctor training seats — from 10 to 20 — at the University of Manitoba Max Rady College of Medicine satellite program in Brandon. The students train at health-care facilities in the Prairie Mountain Health region as well as private clinics.

Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara pledged a $3.3-million capital investment at Brandon Regional Health Centre, including renovations to the library, which will be ready for medical students by the fall of 2026.

“One of the most effective ways to recruit, retain and train more doctors in rural Manitoba is to do the work of creating facilities and opportunities right here in rural Manitoba,” Asagwara said during the news conference.

“These are the communities that we know learners will eventually live and work and establish really, really deep roots, if not there already, if we give them those opportunities,” they said.

After many BU students acquire their science degree, they go on to medical school at U of M, Campbell said, and with the expected improvements at the Brodie Science Centre, instructors will be able to better prepare their students.

“And that’s really our goal here, to ensure that we at Brandon University are doing our part in this long-range plan to create more doctors and a stronger health-care system throughout Manitoba.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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