Ivey Dean Carol Stephenson says in her six years at The University of Western Ontario, getting the news that ground will be broken this summer on a new $100-million building to house the Richard Ivey School of Business is one her greatest days.
Richard Ivey School of Business Dean Carol Stephenson unveils drawings of the new $100-million Ivey building to be located on the west side of Western Road in front of Brescia University College. Provincial and federal politicians unveiled a shared commitment to provide $50 million.
“I have to keep pinching myself that this is real and not just a dream,” she says. “But it really is a dream. It is a dream come true. We can see the future and the dream is becoming a reality.”
The building project will be Western’s largest and one of the largest in London’s history, providing almost 600 jobs in Ontario – more than half in London – over the next year and almost 200 jobs during the second portion of the project.
The federal and provincial governments have each promised $25 million in infrastructure support for the three-storey facility, to be built on the west side of Western Road in front of Brescia University College.
Federal and provincial members of parliament were on hand May 29 for the announcement, part of each government’s investment in post-secondary infrastructure projects.
Of the remaining $50 million, Ivey fundraisers will be responsible for $27.5 million. Western will contribute $22.5 million for the current Ivey building, which allows the university to take possession for other academic needs.
“Ivey has grown tremendously in recent years, and more growth is predicted in the coming years,” says Stephenson, adding Ivey will be in a position to prepare for the growth that will support not only Ontario businesses, but also Ontario’s and Canada’s economic growth. “A world-class business school needs a world-class facility.”
Construction of the 235,000-square-foot glass and cut-stone structure, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects of Toronto, will begin in August on a site where soccer pitches are currently located. It is to be completed by March 2011.
Currently, the faculty is bursting at the seams and scattered over five different locations in London.
The world-renowned undergraduate program (HBA) has grown by 40 per cent over the past three years and is expected to double in size by 2013. The PhD program has tripled in size over the last decade. With Ivey needing about 60 per cent more space, growth was not considered possible in the current building which is hemmed in by a road, UC Hill, a protected woodland and a steep hill.
“It’s a long way from the school’s humble beginnings in 1922 and now with five different locations,” she says. “It’s so exciting to get back together and be in one place, allowing for more collaboration among the programs.”
Fred Longstaffe, Provost and Vice-President (Academic), says the university is fortunate the federal and provincial governments saw value in Ivey’s growth.
“Ivey is a world-renowned leader in business education and is one of the key players at Western in bringing international stature and recognition to the university,” he says.
The university will now begin looking at uses for the current building, he says.
Politicians said the project will provide immediate jobs as well as upgraded space for training future business leaders.
“The Ontario government is supporting new construction and renovation projects that will create construction jobs in the short-term and provide more opportunities for our students to develop the skills they need for the jobs of the future,” says Deb Matthews, MPP for London North Centre, and a Western PhD graduate.
“This means more students will be able to learn at the Ivey School of Business,” she adds, noting her brother is a graduate of Ivey.
The so-far unnamed new building has been designed using the latest green technology, and will be the second LEED-certified building on campus. The other is the Faculty of Engineering’s Claudette McKay-Lassonde Pavilion, which is scheduled to open this fall.
The current building is called the Richard Ivey Business School, named for the first chair of the Ivey Advisory Board, Richard G. Ivey, and will retain his name. The school itself will also retain its name, with students continuing to graduate from the Richard Ivey School of Business at The University of Western Ontario.
The Richard Ivey School of Business was renamed as of Jan. 1, 1996 following a gift of $13.5 million to the university, of which $11 million was directed to the business school itself.
While construction will displace the current soccer fields, planning is underway to move them to an area near TD Waterhouse Stadium.
The glass and cut-stone structure of the new Ivey building, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects of Toronto, will begin in August and is to be completed by March 2011.