By 3 News online staff
The Government will provide up to $107.5 million in funding towards the rebuild of Lincoln University’s science facilities.
The university lost more than 40 percent of its academic floor space in the Canterbury earthquakes, including much of its facilities for science teaching and research. The rebuild will involve demolishing and replacing the badly damaged Hilgendorf and Burns buildings.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says the funding will help the university get back on its feet.
"Lincoln is focused on growing its undergraduate enrolments and the rebuild of its key facilities is the next stage in returning it to sustainable operations."
He says the $107.5m figure is almost a third of the projected cost of totally rebuilding the campus at $349m.
"It reflects the Government’s focus on the rebuild of Canterbury, our support for Lincoln University as it recovers from the earthquakes, and our commitment to using science and technology to increase export earnings from the agricultural sector."
The Government funding is dependent on the university integrating the new facilities with partners in the Lincoln Hub - DairyNZ and Crown Research Institutes.
"[It] means we have a unique, once in a generation opportunity to combine the physical operations of all these entities in one integrated campus serving 900 scientists, students, and industry," he says.
An initial payment of $7.5m will be made to the university by the end of July. The additional $100m will be paid in instalments throughout the project.
Construction is expected to begin in the second half of next year, with completion planned for 2018/19.
3 News
source: newshub archive
