Fanshawe College is undertaking significant construction projects to upgrade its Oxford St. campus facilities and infrastructure. Although these improvements are to enhance the college’s environment and services, they will unavoidably cause temporary disruptions for students and staff.

Among the significant undertakings is relocating the emergency generator from G building to D building, specifically to support the Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI) at Innovation Village.

“The G building emergency generator, we will relocate it to the D building. Then, a new generator will go in its place, just outside the G building, between the G and J buildings,” said Manager of Project and Construction Management Donna McInnis.

This move will ensure continued emergency power for crucial refrigeration units. The process involves crane operations at both buildings. The exact date of this disruption has not yet been determined, so the college community is advised to stay updated through SharePoint Notices.

In addition, extensive renovations are being carried out in the D building washrooms, affecting facilities on the first, second, and third floors. The renovations addressing the outdated infrastructure of the washrooms built in 1965 will close these facilities until the end of September.

“The renovations are extensive due to the age and condition of the existing facilities,” McInnis explained.

Another major project is the new Central Cooling Centre (CEC) building, which continues to impact access between the Student Union building and D building. This long-term project, which has been ongoing for over three years, involves extensive concrete work and will result in periodic road closures and minor sidewalk access.

“This project is significant both in scope and cost,” McInnis said.

Roof replacement work on D building is set for October. This will involve the closure of the east door to the courtyard, affecting access between D building, the Student Union building, and the Innovation Village courtyard. The start of this project was delayed due to unusually wet weather, but the revised schedule is aimed at minimizing disruptions for new students arriving in September.

“That project’s been delayed until October now because we’ve had such a wet summer with so many rainstorms that we did four different buildings of roof replacements this year,” McInnis said.

The college will replace 10 exterior doors annually from October through February as part of ongoing maintenance. Each replacement will cause minor detours for about two to three days. This maintenance is essential for maintaining the safety and functionality of the college’s buildings.

Wireless enhancements across campus are also in progress, involving upgrades to exterior Wi-Fi equipment. Temporary detours of approximately three hours will occur as new equipment has been installed and old components removed.

“The students and everybody use wireless all the time at college, and the equipment has to be upgraded, just like you get a new phone, they change the models. So, we’re doing that throughout the college. But there’s some old devices that will have to be removed, or in the fall term. So, for about three hours, they’ll have to detour around them,” McInnis said.

Additionally, the roof replacement project on the F Building will restrict access to the D building, Student Union building and Innovation Village Courtyard grass area until Oct. 30. This restriction is necessary to allow the grass to recover from damage caused by construction vehicles.

“We’re going to ask that students don’t go on the lawn so that it has a chance to recover and get receded and grow again so that it’s good to use, because of the damage from the heavy trucks,” McInnis said.

Fanshawe College encourages its community to regularly check SharePoint Notices for the latest updates on construction impacts and detours.

“It’s important to stay informed about these changes to navigate campus effectively,” McInnis advised.