Deal between City and SFU

The Mayor and the President and Vice-Chancellor of SFU signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this week, outlining a course of partnership between the two organizations for continued support and expansion in the next two years.

The Memorandum of Understanding had a few points I’d like to bring to the front, letting us more easily connect the dots between some recent stories.

The next stage of expansion for the Surrey SFU campus will expand teaching, research, and community outreach in biotechnology, science and the health sciences as well as enable further growth of programs in business and the arts and social sciences.

The partners will work together to expedite the further expansion of the Surrey SFU campus including the construction of a Science and Technology Building as soon as possible. In support of this objective, the City will assist SFU in communicating to the provincial and federal government the importance to Surrey and the South Fraser region of additional undergraduate and graduate programs in Science and Health Sciences as well as an enhanced research capacity for the South Fraser;

With the City’s Development Corporation, the partners will explore opportunities to leverage the partners land holdings in City Centre and further expansion of SFU and the City of Surrey existing and future facilities to attract other quality tenants to the City Centre and where any opportunity demonstrates viability, to take appropriate actions to bring the opportunity to fruition;

The partners will explore joint opportunities for the development and use of recreation and library facilities and for the support of athletics.

It’s interesting to note that SFU first opened up in temporary facilities in 2002, and has been in it’s current permanent 330,000 sq. ft. space since only 2006. It’s current capacity sits at 2,500 full time students, and already has a student body of over 3,000.

One unique aspect of SFU Surrey is that it’s a completely urban campus, meaning it is integrated into the fabric of the city, rather than being separated off like a traditional university campus. That chracteristic is something I hope SFU continues with as they expand, and from what this Memorandum of Understanding outlines, it seems as though they will.

From my gathering, the City is hoping to engage SFU, and most certainly other partners, in building the second Central City tower (on the Rec Centre lands). Presumably, the City would take advantage of space in this new tower for either a new rec centre, or main city library (or maybe both).

Exciting times all around!