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| The Prince Rupert Campus of Coast Mountain College remains the only one of the major campus locations that does not offer student housing |
Friday was a big day for the Main campus of Coast Mountain College, with the Provincial government bringing close to 19 million dollars in funding to Terrace for a 20 million dollar affordable housing project in the Skeena Valley City.
As we noted on Friday, the near two year construction plan from the province and the college will see 108 beds in place in two buildings at the Terrace campus upon completion, an increase in current student housing in that city of some 33 units.
And when those 108 units are ready for the students to move into in the fall of 2021, that will be 108 more affordable housing units than are available for Prince Rupert campus students.
A collective who currently have to fend for themselves when it comes to finding accommodation, a particularly challenging situation for the growing number of International students who now attend classes in this city.
We sought out some background on the lack of campus housing in Prince Rupert on Friday with an email to the communications department at Coast Mountain College, but so far have not heard back.
Though we will admit it was a pretty busy day last Friday around the Terrace campus and it does take a lot of time to count count out 18.7 million dollars ...
In May of 2018 Sarah Zimmerman the Communications Manager for Coast Mountain College did offer up a glimpse of some of the past history on the issue of student housing in Prince Rupert.
That after the roll out of a housing announcement for the Smithers campus, with Ms. Zimmerman noting at the time that options were still being considered for the Prince Rupert area.
"We know there is a need for student housing in Prince Rupert and we are currently exploring options for the community there. Student housing in Prince Rupert is part of Northwest Community College's five-year capital plan and we continue to work to try to move it forward there."
Friday's announcement from Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister Melanie Mark of new housing for Terrace, compliments that development in Smithers; leaving Prince Rupert as the only one of the three main Coast Mountain College campus locations that does not have campus housing available for its students.
The topic is not a new one for the city, during the Jack Mussallem years at City Hall the former mayor had made a number of inquiries of the college to try and bring campus housing to the community, though there had been little progress on the file by the time the 2014 election came around and new leadership took over at City Hall.
Since then, if campus housing is any kind of a priority for the current City Council it's not something that they are talking about in public sessions, where Coast Mountain College rarely makes for commentary on issues of accommodation, when it's a topic of discussion at all.
MLA Rice was quoted quite enthusiastically on Friday about the new campus housing for Terrace, calling on her own experiences as a student in the Northwest.
“The student housing in Terrace has been in a state of disrepair since I was a Coast Mountain College student almost two decades ago. After two years in government, I’m proud to say we’re fixing this. We’re breaking down barriers by investing in students’ success.”
Yet, when it comes to her own alma mater of the Prince Rupert campus where she once took her coastal ecology studies; the MLA, like the majority of those on City Council have not had much to say publicly on any push towards providing for some affordable housing for the students living in the riding that she serves.
Perhaps there is some great plan underway behind the scenes with everyone pulling in the same direction but if so, they might want to send up some signals towards that work, for at the moment it would seem that as far as the public might see, the topic isn't of much interest to anyone.
At Friday's announcement to celebrate the latest NDP government investment for Terrace, Minster Mark proclaimed loudly that she had heard the calls for student housing in Terrace.
"We want student housing at Coast Mountain College, I heard you, we're here, eighteen million, congratulations Coast Mountain College. Thank you for your advocacy, I'm so proud of you"
Makes you wonder if anyone, elected or otherwise, is speaking up loudly and advocating for Prince Rupert?
For more on Friday's housing announcement for the Terrace campus and other Coast Mountain College related notes see our archive page here.
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