BY CARYS MILLS
Additional costs for the Student Learning Centre (SLC) will run between 2.5 and 4 per cent, according to Linda Grayson, vice-president administration and finance.
Grayson announced the increase to the cost of the project at a Board of Governors meeting on Oct. 26.
The costs are part of Ryerson complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. The legislation’s goal is full accessibility for Ontarians by 2025 by putting standards in place throughout the province.
One issue at Ryerson is the distance between stacks in the library. Currently, the space is 39 inches but the distance now needs to be 80 inches.
“That has a huge implication on the cost of building a library,” said Grayson at the meeting.
The SLC’s architect will be selected by the end of 2009. The facility, at Yonge and Gould Streets, will house study space and an addition to the library. The act requires new buildings to comply to the standards immediately while older buildings can be updated more gradually.
The rest of what went down at the meeting:
• Tas Venetsanopoulos, vice-president research and innovation, reported that Ryerson was ranked number one in the increase of research publications from 2002 and 2007
• A research project is merging real life with virtual lives through gaming, simulations and goal-based social interactions. There’s also a $1.82 million wind technology research project. It will have the capacity to power 25 homes.
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