Brock University has acquired an eight-acre site on Schmon Parkway to support future growth, further enabling the expansion of classroom and lab space on the St. Catharines campus.

The site at 3401 Schmon Parkway is located in Thorold opposite the St. Catharines campus and has been home to an Enbridge operations centre and works yard. A portion of the 86,000-sq.-ft. building will continue to be occupied by Enbridge as part of a leaseback agreement with the University.

In an effort to free up space for more classrooms and research labs, several units that do not provide student-facing or employee-facing services, and are not operationally required to be on campus, will be relocated to the new site.

“This is a strategic investment for Brock as we position the University for future growth opportunities,” says Vice-President, Administration Ken Chan. “By acquiring this site, we are responding to the immediate teaching, learning and research space needs by relocating certain functions.”

Teams affected by the relocation will receive a detailed plan and timeline, as well as other supports and resources, from their managers. Learnings gained during the pandemic about alternative working arrangements will provide significant insights to enable this relocation.

“During the pandemic, we’ve learned how best to deliver services and supports while sometimes being away from campus,” Chan says. “We also have experience connecting colleagues who are not physically together. These learnings create new possibilities as we leverage the space available at the Schmon Parkway site.”

It is expected the relocations will begin gradually in late 2022