Christian college buys permanent space downtown

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This article was published 16/10/2023 (1062 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eighteen months after it started renting facilities in downtown Winnipeg for international students studying business and management, Providence University College has found a permanent home in the city’s core.

The Christian school has purchased the former Booth University College building at Ellice Avenue and Colony Street, and will begin offering courses there next July.

“We’re excited to see Providence return to the city of Winnipeg, where it all started 98 years ago,” said the school’s president, Kenton Anderson.

The school, known as Winnipeg Bible College when it was founded in the city in 1925, moved to Otterburne — about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg — in 1970.

While the school has found a new home for the business and management programs in Winnipeg, it will continue offering courses at its Otterburne campus.

“We like the idea of being a rural and urban entity that can serve all of Manitoba,” Anderson said. “I really love the idea of having both campuses.”

The new location will provide space for the two programs, which currently have about 400 students meeting in a rented facility in the Exchange District. It expects to grow to 700 students by fall, 2024.

But the need for space for the program wasn’t the only reason for buying the Booth campus, Anderson said.

“We want to be part of the vision for downtown, part of the solution,” he said, noting the school will bring hundreds of students to the core. “We want to see it thrive and gain strength.”

At the same time, being located in Winnipeg will bring the school “increased visibility,” he said, adding that its rural location means it is not well known to many people in the city.

“We want to level up and show we are a serious player that has something to offer to Manitoba,” he said, adding being downtown will bring the school “into increased contact with a wide range of people” such as at the nearby University of Winnipeg and to the former Hudson’s Bay building, which is being transformed into a hub for First Nations people in the province.

The new campus, which cost $9.5 million to purchase, includes a residence for students on the top floors of the seven-storey building, above the classroom and office spaces.

That residential living space will meet one of the most urgent challenges facing international students today, Anderson said — finding an affordable place to live.

“That’s one of the benefits of buying the building,” he said, adding it will also enable the school to offer students a better sense of community.

“We don’t want to just bring students here, we want to look after them,” he said.

That includes offering them a higher sense of security, especially after four international students at Providence were attacked at Fort Street and Graham Avenue last March. The college has been leasing space at CDI College, at Main Street and Graham.

Crime is a concern, Anderson said, adding the new campus will be safer because many will be able to live in residence.

Along with the business and management programs, Providence is exploring the possibility of offering some of the courses currently only available in Otterburne at its new Winnipeg campus.

As a condition of the sale, the building will be rented by Booth University College for the current academic year as it transitions to a new campus at 290 Vaughan, located a block south of the current property.

For Rob Fringer, president of the Christian university named after Salvation Army co-founder Gen. William Booth, the move to the new location is part of the school’s “regrouping” and focusing on “what we do well.”

The building, which housed the Salvation Army’s College for Officer Training before it moved to Toronto, is home to Booth’s library and two classrooms.

“It’s the right size for us,” Fringer said, noting the school has about 400 students. “It’s much more fit for our purpose.”

In the future, Booth plans to add a public restaurant/café in the basement, he said, adding that other than that, no major renovations are needed before moving in.

“Booth is also committed to the city, especially those who have often been neglected and forgotten,” Fringer said, noting he is also glad the school will continue to be located downtown.

Looking ahead, Booth is also interested in exploring potential collaborations with Providence for courses, he said.

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