Rendering of the Academic Health Sciences project D wing

The announcement on August 15, 2008, provides money that will further the construction of the D wing and to finalize preparations for the E wing tender. Construction will begin on D wing in September. The province committed an original $100 million back in 2006, boosting the total funding from the province to $200 million for the project.

D wing will wrap around the west and north sides of the existing Health Sciences Building and will include biocontainment research labs, office and support space and a research animal facility. It accounts for about 40 per cent of the entire $251 million complex. That 2005 total includes both new construction and renovation of existing facilities.

Tenders on the biomedical research portion of the complex, known as D wing, closed in mid-June but the low bid of $127.9 million from Graham Construction exceeded the original 2005 budget by more than five per cent, said Richard Florizone, vice-president of finance and resources. Prior to going to tender, the government had agreed to allow the university to award the project only if the cost was less than five per cent over budget.

On Dec. 9, 2005, preliminary plans for the location, program, design, construction schedule, and capital and operating budgets of the Centre were approved by the U of S Board of Governors.

The new and existing health buildings will house the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Pharmacy & Nutrition, as well as the School of Physical Therapy, the School of Public Health, a Social Population Health Research unit, the Canadian Centre for Health & Safety in Agriculture, an animal holding facility, biomedical labs, administrative offices, a new 504-seat lecture theatre, and a new larger Academic Health Sciences Library.

The northern new building will be linked over Campus Drive to the Arts classroom wing.

For more information: http://announcements.usask.ca/news/archive/2008/08/major_commitmen.html