University of Sudbury reopens residence, plans to become standalone institution

University of Sudbury reopens its residence The University of Sudbury is gearing up to open its residence and hopes to become a standalone French university.

The University of Sudbury is reopening its residence after a multi-million dollar renovation.

The residence shut down and a number of programs were closed during Laurentian University’s insolvency period.

Renovations include upgrading common space areas, redoing the washrooms and refreshing some of the individual rooms.

The residence can house a total of 176 people.

President Serge Miville said the school went through difficulties during the last year, but has persevered. He said the school is financially secure and is eager for the renovations to provide a breath of fresh air.

“The soul of the place is right in the residence where students are making it happen,” he said.

Joshua Dandurand-Parent, general manager of University of Sudbury residence, said the residence offers an affordable option for students amidst rising demand for housing.

“Our price is considerably low, relative to some of the prices you see on the market,” Dandurand-Parent said.

“You take into consideration we don’t have a mandatory meal plan and the university is ready to offer $50,000 bursaries for students in the residences.”

He said there was a great deal of consideration given to the residence’s past when updating the space, and ensuring it still offers fond memories for future students.

He said there was a need to preserve the community building aspect of the residence.

“Anybody I talk to that’s lived here in the past, their eyes light up when they talk about how much fun they had when they were here,” he said.

“They always had very inclusive and diverse activities to be able to gather people from different countries and really integrate them into the Canadian culture. We’re really trying to capture that essence here.”

WARM MEMORIES

One of those former students is Mohammed El Mendri, who lived in the residence and was a part of student council. He also took on a job as security when the residence shut down. He said he has warm memories of his time in residence.

“We had Thanksgiving dinners, we had Christmas dinners, we had soccer games every Sunday morning, we had hikes during winter and summer,” El Mendri said.

“It was a great time.”

The university is also looking to become a standalone French university.

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Miville said there’s a great deal of community support for this project. He adds it’s something the university has wanted since its establishment in 1913.

“We’re just waiting on regulatory approval from the province right now, so they got our accreditation so that’s been done, the business plan just needs approval to be able to unlock the funding and put forward our business plan and operationalize it,” he said.

For those wishing to see the residence renovations in person, there will be an open house Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.