Bible College relocation includes $15-M renovation

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This article was published 10/12/2024 (628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Steinbach Bible College is getting a new home.

The college, which has 113 students and employs 30 people, currently shares a campus with Steinbach Christian School, a kindergarten-to-Grade 12 building. It plans to move into the former Steinbach Family Medical building in 2026.

The college plans to spend $15 million on renovations, including the construction of classrooms, offices, a chapel, library, dining space and a dorm.

The new campus is about two kilometres from its current location on the west side of Highway 12.

The school, which currently has more than 400 students enrolled, needed more room. By buying out the college’s portion of the space, it will have the ability to expand.

College president Dave Reimer said the move will give the 88-year-old college its own home in a more centralized location.

“The Christian school is completely full,” he said. “They have a waiting list and need the space. The new campus will give us our own building.”

The new location will also make it easier for college students to serve nearby personal-care homes, churches and other places in the city.

“We are very much connected to churches and para-church ministries in the community, so it only made sense to be closer to them,” Reimer said.

The college will use the gym next door at Crossview Church.

About $8 million of the cost of building the new campus has been raised.

“There’s a big job ahead of us to raise the rest,” Reimer said, adding “the support we are receiving has been encouraging.”

Steinbach city manager Troy Warkentin said the campus plans are good for the city.

“We are pleased the college continues to grow and enjoy success,” he said.

It’s also a plus that the college is repurposing a facility that has been vacant for some time, he said.

Steinbach also benefits, as students from across Canada and other countries are enrolled, Warkentin said.

“The fact it attracts students from all over the world adds to the multicultural makeup of the community,” he said.

The college is supported by the Evangelical Mennonite Conference, the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference, the Mennonite Brethren conferences of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the Christian Mennonite Conference. About 60 per cent of its students come from Mennonite churches.

Its mission is to prepare young people to be leaders in churches by offering degrees in biblical studies, missions, Bible/theology and marketplace ministries. The college has arrangements with Red River College Polytech and Booth University College to enable students to transfer credits for additional studies.

About half of its students are Manitobans, and approximately 40 per cent are from elsewhere in Canada. The remaining 10 per cent includes people from the United States, Mexico, Belize, Brazil, Uganda and Nigeria.

International student numbers have dropped due to new limits posted by the federal government.

“We aren’t as affected as other schools,” Reimer said. “While we benefit greatly from what international students bring us, they’re not central to our financial model.”

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