Two new UVic student-housing buildings with a total of 783 beds are now expected to be completed in 2023, 16 months ahead of schedule, the university announced Thursday.
Mike Wilson, director of campus planning and sustainability for the University of Victoria, said the two buildings will now be built at the same time, rather than in two phases as originally planned. Work is expected to start next year.
The $201-million project was announced by the B.C. government in November.
Along with student dorms, one building will include a 600-seat dining facility.
The other will include two 225-seat classrooms and a meeting space.
Three buildings will be torn down at the same time, including two dorm buildings — Emily Carr Residences and Margaret Newton Hall, both built in the 1960s as women’s dorms — and the Cadboro Commons kitchen/dining room block, which serves students in housing.
The net new beds will total 621.
To continue serving food to students during construction, a 500-seat, temporary kitchen/dining facility is expected to be constructed on a campus parking lot.
The plan is for the eating facility to be assembled off campus and craned into place by the fall of 2020.
Wilson said project managers are confident the rearrangement of the work will not significantly increase cost.
