College of the Rockies' Invermere campus is growing. In collaboration with David Thompson Secondary School (DTSS) the change will see the College take over the high school's current art room and result in a brand-new art room for DTSS students, thanks to a $2.8 million infusion from the provincial government.
College of the Rockies and David Thompson Secondary have shared space since 1998.
"Currently DTSS's art room is connected to the College's portion of the building," said Allan Knibbs, Director of Facilities at College of the Rockies. "We proposed to the school, and to the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, having the College take over that portion of DTSS's classroom space and, in turn, to build them a brand-new art room."
A growing number of programs and students at the campus has necessitated the expansion.
"With the introduction of new programming like our Hospitality Management diploma, and subsequent enrolment growth, space is extremely constrained, limiting the campus' course offerings and availability. This expansion is expected to address these issues," Knibbs said.
The new art room for DTSS will be constructed to align with the latest code requirements for accessible spaces and will follow the space standards guidelines provided by the Ministry of Education while the former classroom will be upgraded and modernized to meet the needs of the College.
The project got underway on Wednesday, April 19 and is expected to be completed before the start of the fall semester in September.
Learn more about College of the Rockies' programs and services at: cotr.ca
