An Old Building with a new face and a new Future By Ian Brannan – St.Lawrence College Celebrates Renovations of its Cornwall Ontario Campus – October 21, 2011

CFN –Success is usually a word that’s used around the St. Lawrence College campus a lot, but it’s mostly used for students. Today it was a different story, today celebrated the successful renovation of the sixty some year old Moulinette Hall in a project that started a couple years ago. The project is estimated to have cost around 14 million dollars, and saw the school’s oldest building updated, its classrooms and labs upgraded, and air conditioning finally installed (something that was interfering with the college holding summer classes because it provided an uncomfortable environment for learning).

.

The costs of the renovations were mostly carried by the Federal and provincial governments who both footed a five million dollar bill and the city of Cornwall also donated a million dollars to the project. Leaving the college with the remaining 3 million dollars to pay, which they have turned into a 4.5 million dollar Capital Fundraising campaign, which includes the addition of a one million dollar endowed bursary fund specifically aimed at the less fortunate in our society, and specifically for the Cornwall Campus.

The celebrations were held mostly in the gymnasium of Moulinette Hall, where a number of new donations were received and their donators were recognized. Some of these people included Scotiabank and Ontario Power Generation, who donated $45,000 and $10,000 respectively to the Capital Fundraising campaign, and more than one hundred thousand dollars in total was donated today. According to Don Fairweather, the Dean of the Cornwall Campus of St. Lawrence College, the fundraising campaign has already raised over 60% of the 4.5 million dollar goal.

Dean Don Fairweather went on to explain that the enhancements to Moulinette hall, which has had no substantial renovation work done in almost 40 years, went on to explain that the renovations were just phase one of a three phase plan. This would eventually see most activities related to St. Lawrence College operated out of just Moulinette Hall, and see control of Aultsville hall turned over to a number of organizations in the community. The second and third phase (start and completion date is unknown as of this date) will include a three story addition to the north east side of Moulinette hall, and will have the library, cafeteria, computer labs, and “Shark tank” moved out of Aultsville Hall.

But one of the surprises today, came from the Student Union representative, Christina Russell, who also added that the student body pledged a total of one hundred thousand dollars to the fundraiser to be raised over four years. Showing that the students of St. Lawrence College were behind the revitalization project one hundred and ten percent and that they would continue to support it in the following years. Other surprises did grace the student body however, including the fact that the street that St. Lawrence College is currently found on its being renamed to St. Lawrence road.

The outpouring of support from the government, corporations and private citizens today was overwhelming, and the students by the end of all the presentations had one simple message to everyone involved: