NORTHERN ALBERTA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Renovations begin on $12M student services centre at original Main Campus

Beyond the doorways of the broad, brightly lit corridor known as NAIT's South Lobby, there's a space resembling an on-campus ghost town.

Now a dim warren of former offices and meeting rooms, it was once a bustling centre of student support, a hub designed to meet needs that arise throughout the academic journey. For decades after NAIT opened in the early 1960s, it was the geographic centre of campus, with academic wings stretching roughly evenly in either direction, north and south.

But by the 2000s, that centre was shifting. Buildings such as the Centre for Information and Communication Technology and the Centre for Applied Technology opened to boost the student population, and came to host a growing collection of services, or provide new homes for existing ones. South Lobby began to steadily empty in response.

That's about to change. The previously abandoned South Lobby is now being recognized as a new opportunity to support growth. Renovations have begun in the space - roughly equivalent to two hockey rinks - to rebuild it as a uniquely consolidated student services hub that will stand the test of time. It's a $12-million project scheduled for completion by fall 2028.

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