Stephenville town councillors are praising the provincial government for being committed to working towards a new College of the North Atlantic headquarters in Stephenville.
Mayor Tom O'Brien said at council's recent regular general meeting that back in November of 2011 he sent a letter to Joan Burke, MHA for St. George's-Stephenville East, stating council was pleased to see a new building for Stephenville was included in the Progressive Conservative's blue book.
"Contained in the Blue Book was a commitment to consulting with the college for a new headquarters building and since the college is a large asset in our community, we (the town council) certainly want to see it have growth, especially where it is headquarters for a total of 17 campuses in the province and Qatar," he said.
Mayor O'Brien said Minister Burke, who is Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, responded to his letter stating government is committed to working on the new headquarters.
Councillor Don Gibbon said it was good to see a recent story in the Troubadour, College of the North Atlantic's student newspaper, stating college officials hopes to expand the Bay St. George Campus in Stephenville and has proposed the construction of a new building.
This structure would be located adjacent to the current D.S.B. Fowlow Building on Massachusetts Drive, with a connection between the two by a catwalk type bridge.
Mayor O'Brien said the Town of Stephenville has land set aside for the construction of a new college building with a freeze on development at that location for some time now.
Councillor Gibbon said Lorne Park, facilities manager with the college, said in the Troubadour story the addition would accomplish several things, including bringing together under one roof the applied arts programs.
The centre would include stage space and studios for programs such as journalism, film and video production, music industry and performance, recording arts, digital animation, visual arts and video game design.
Councillor Gibbon pointed to the fact a new library is included in the proposal for the new building that would provide a brighter, airier and more comfortable space for reading and research, since the current library is in the basement of the building with low ceilings.
He said it was stated in the college newspaper that since this plan is in the proposal stage, any price estimate should be considered tentative.
"This is indeed good news as many people have been calling for the expansion of the public college facilities here in Stephenville and now that the proposed plan has been outlined, we as a council must continue to lobby for this to become a reality - sooner rather than later," Councillor Gibbon said.
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