New Cafeteria set to open in B Building

A new school year brings new improvements to Fanshawe College.

With $7.2 million in funding from the provincial government for capital renewal, Fanshawe's London campus continues to put into action the necessary projects needed to improve life at Fanshawe by March of 2008.

Major construction has taken place during the summer months as builders are swamped with 130 projects this year, 30 more than the regular average of 100 annual projects. Most obvious is the grand opening of the new B Building cafeteria, which is scheduled to be finished and ready to serve students on Monday, September 17.

This new enclosed courtyard and cafeteria will include a third Tim Hortons, supplying gourmet coffee and bagels, as well as the arrival of the highly anticipated and newest food chain on campus, Bug Pita. In addition the cafeteria will also supply additional vending machines, beverages, frozen meals and late night snacks for students who are working into the late evening hours.

“This will greatly enhance food services to students in that wing of the college,” said Emily Marcoccia, Manager of Marketing and Communications at Fanshawe. “[This section] as we all know has expanded a lot in the last three years to include buildings such as the centre for Technology and Trades,” said Marcoccia.

Major off campus projects include the roadwork, which involved construction of a new pedestrian walkway off Fanshawe College Boulevard at Fleming Drive as well as new sidewalks, curbs and gutters on Oxford Street in response to college student requests.

In order to better traffic around the college and the city, a new right hand turning lane from Fanshawe College Boulevard onto Oxford Street is being created, as well as lane markings which will be put in place at the Fanshawe College Boulevard campus entrance. This will create a left hand turning lane for all northbound traffic.

“We have also done parking lot and roadway resurfacing and improved signage with more to come,” said Marcoccia.

Classroom improvement projects accompany the construction within the school as the college is in the midst of refurbishing academic spaces with new two-tiered seating, Internet connections at work stations and new audiovisual equipment. As well, with the international student enrollment at an all-time high, Fanshawe have designated two new classrooms for English as a second language for international students.

Additional wheelchair access has also made significant improvements, as there are now wheelchair access corridors for the first floors of D and A Building.

“We have [also] opened at 1764 Oxford Street, which is the former London Small Business Centre. We purchased this as our new home for heavy duty automotive programs.” Marcoccia stated.

Minor adjustments will continue well into the school year as Fanshawe tackles the “quality of learning and working” projects. With improved ventilation systems, new sound systems and assistive listening devices for the hearing impaired in two of Fanshawe's gyms.

“[These are] just a few examples of projects that we do not ‘see' but are happening behind the scenes,” said Marcoccia.