The Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-04-27, Page 13120th YEAR — No 17
ExcUent Location
THE GOQERICH SIGNAL .STAR, ZHUR$DAY,'APRI4 27, 1907
ade College Building
(By Sandy McD.onald).
AL A. recent article appearing son
',the front page of 'the Seaforth
weekly, "The Huron Expostorh, .lead
this to say regarding the need for
post -secondary educationfacilities
in Huron county,:
-"A great deal of progress has
been made in the -.province ,of On-
tario towards __providing equal op-
portunity for all at the elementary
and secondary school levels. Above
-the' secondary school level however,
the odds at the present time are
heavilyweighted in favor of tliose
living in . or near concentrations of
population of industry. The situa-
tion
existing in the four counties
comprising Area 14 is no exception.
"The counties of Wellington
and Waterloo contain the cities of
Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph as
well as the city -town complex of
Galt-Preston-Hespeler. These eon -
centrations of population and Indus-
try have also become centres of
education from the elementary to
the university and • post -graduate
level. The educational opportunities
offered are within easy commuting
distancewfrom any part of these two
counties. Furthermore, large por-
tion of the people in this area are
additionally favoured by being with-
in commuting distance of other edu=
cational facilities in or near the city
of Hamilton.
"The two western counties of
Huron and Perth are predominantly..
rural in character;-- they contain
only one small city but have many
small. towns ' and villages scattered
fairly uniformly over the region.
With . the exception of a teacher's
College in Stratford, no educational
facilities exist above the secondary
level. The young 'people of these
counties mustleave home. if they
d A . ire. post -secondary . education.
, establishment of ,a •College of
Applied Arts and Technology in this
region would provide some correc-
tion of this exiting imbalance of ,
opportunity.
"Location of the Area 14 col-
, lege orone or more of its satellites,
within . the Huron -Perth region
would place- it in one of the. most
important agricultural areas of .the
province. These twocounties are
the centre of the cattle, hog and
poultry industry in Ontario. In .1965,
the county of Huron stood first and
the county of Perth third in total
cattle production; Huron . was first
and Perth second in thee -production
of poultry while Perth was first and
.
1
Huron fourth in total swine produc-
tion. Thus any educational facilities
established in, this . region which.
could provide agricultural and -or
veterinary training would be a valu-
able complement to a well establish-
' ed industry.
"The economy of the • Huron
° Perth region is further supported .
•by many small to medium sizedyin-
dutries. These ran e from small
service type firmstolarger manu-
facturing units covering a wide
range of services and pro :.ucts. To
become a skilled employee in any
of these industries at , present re-
quires either on-the-job training or
attendance at a. school away from
home.: The establishment of such
training facilities in Huron -Perth
would provide a home-grown source
of skilled 'labour 'to this industrial"
base and at the same time encourage,
establishment of additional indus-
tries, thus contributing to the de-
velopment of a more balanced aeon=
orny. '
"The contention that further
educational establishments, to oper-
ate successfully, should be located
adjacent to existing centres oflearn-
ing is refuted by a school located in
Huron county. The Canadian Forces
Base situated two miles south of the
town of Clinton offers this post-
secondary type of training to, the
officers and men of the Canadian
Armed Forces and it has been em-
inently successful.
"'Considering then, that it is
logical to locate the area 14 College,-
or
ollege,or its satellite, in. the Huron -Perth
region it .becomes 'pertinent to ex-
amine the requirements for the most
advantageous location and to deter--
mine
eter=mine where that might, be."
. . The Huron . Expositor has ex-
pressed a strong argument to sup
,port Seaforth, or that vicinity, as
a base for the College . of Applied
Arts and Technology, in the same.
article. Several valid reasons are
stated which would favour that
centre as a site for the_ college,` one
of the most important being its
central location in the Huron -Perth
, region. .
That advantage is not question-
ed but other factors are to be con-
sidered beforeany definite site is
chosen and before that final decision
is taken, several reasons favouring
the town of Goderich . as a site
should be stated.
.. If we look at the issue from the
standpoint of how soon it will be
built and how much it will cost,
GodericTh has a lot going for it in
those directions, because this town
has .the potential headquarters for
a community college already built,
unoccupied and available at reason-
able cost to Pthe board of governors
of this Area' 14 who will establish,
operate and administer the com-
munity college...
Yes, there is a large commercial,
two-storey brick building- in this
centre providing over 15,000 square
feet of space for future classrooms
and equipment for the . staff and
students who wo uld, occupy them. In
fact At probably contains enough.__
room or rooms that a residential
dormitory could be provided in the
same building. It also has the equip-
ment and facilities to furnish a
future college with a kitchen and -or
cafeteria. It offers "an ideal .site
4
A pleasant location on top of the lake bank
puts the hotel building in an ideal location
for fresh air and recreational facilities.
Here is a view from the long varapdab at
the front of, the building looking worst opt
over Lake Huron. Parklike surroundings
and tine hornet surround the building, while
to th6 south of it a Targe area of open ground.
could be used for campus purposes. A
double tennis court exists, with plenty of
space for other sports.
Now
4444,1
With a replacement value' that would run into hundreds of thousands .of
dollars, the famous old. Sunset Hotel, once thronged with well-to-do summer
visitors, stands ready. to serve as a complete facility for 'a regional college
which it is proposed to be located in the town of Goderich. This view of the
btfilding is from. the south, across a Targe recreation area, or campus which
would be available dn_,.addi.tion'to 'other space to .the north and east of the
within the town, built where it is in
a quiet,, residential section where
stud nts and teachers could.-:caancen-
tratewithout undue noise and [dis-
turbances distracting them. After
hours, it would provide them a
serene atmosphere in . which they
could relax.
Its site, overlooking Lake
Huron, offers a majestic view and
would, perhaps, at the end of .a
-frustrating day of studies.or exams,
provide- the harried student with
a sense of perspective' and propor-
tion if he were to view the western
horizon and watch the sunset over
Lake Huron.
There is ample parking already
established there, on the grounds
surrounding it, and if you haven't
already .guessed,the identity. of our
proposed {college building, it is time
to reveal that it is the former Sunset
Hotel, at the western extremity of
Britannia Road which we have been
discussing. .
Assuming that college, students
don't study every evening and .on
occasion , enjoy, or even require,
diversion and recreation, Goderich
can fully offer this need.• Only j
block -away, the Harbourlite pavi-
,lion provides dancing every Satur-
day night.
If their taste runs to sport,
then they'll find that also. As was
painted _--_out. :.t y_°a_m_ember of _ to win:..,
council, there are five ski resorts and
four provincial parks within Area
14, plus a complete recreation pro-
gram within the town limits.
Should' the board members of
the proposed college- of applied arts
and technology concede, from the
foregoing reasons, that . Huron
merits consideration ahead of the
other three counties within Area 14,
additional information favouring
• Goderich as a site within this coun-
ty must be presented- to them. A
delegation from Goderich has al-
ready submitted a brief to the board
of overnors for our Area 14 col-
lege ''''n which several valid points
supporting this town as a site were
given. Despite the obvious repeti-
tion of facts presented by them,
their case favouring this urban com-
munity a"s a site is - re-emphasized
here: ,
"The brief emphasized the ser-
vices to be found, within Goderich,
and pointed out the recent construc-
tion of a new water works and
filtration plant.
"The town council would be
prepared to eco -operate in whatever
way possible to facilitate the soca-
-tion of a college in Goderich.
"There is a fine shopping area
both on and 9ff . the Square, with
even, type of merchandise. ,
"Housing is of excellent quality
hotel building. The brick structure is apparently in excellent condition.
Renovations would convert it into a commodious collegebuilding, complete
with dormitories, ,dining facilities and classrooms. The town of Goderich
this week made representations to the board of regents of the proposed
college who made an inspection tour Monday afternoon and held a hearing
in the council chamber of 14uron county' court house. See news story,' Page
1, Section 1.. :
•
with tree -lined streets and the in-
clusion of a faculty within our midst
would see them well housed.- There
is land available for the building of
new suburbs to the town which
would be serviced in every way.
'Outside Goderich is a fine
agricultural belt specializing in
dairy, beef and small crop farming.
"Goderich has excellent indus-
tries at _the present which have done
much for ,the community. Domin-
ion Road Machinery Company,
Sifto "Salt Company, • Goderich
Manufacturing and Dearborn, Steel
Tubing are just a few of them.
Though our present -industries have -
shown great interest in the young
folk of the town,' their efforts can
and must touch only a small frac.:
tion of the • available force."
To sum_ up our case for Gode-
rich as 'a site for the proposed Col-
lege of Applied Arts and Technol-
ogy, we could present no more valid
argument than that stated at the,_
conclusionof the 'brief presented by
Reverend G. L. Royal and the mayor
of Goderich, Dr. G. F. Mills. In their
brief, the final paragraph , read as
follows:
"It': is the unanimous opinion
of the townsmen of Goderich and of
`the town council that a more suit-
' able point of location would be dif-
ficult to find. We feel that every
co-operation would be forthcoming
and exerted by the :responsible_
authorities in Goderich to secure a
happy settlement of such a college
in our midst and future. years would
echo with -the fame and intensity
'of training procured by all gradu-
ates of such a college. Goderich has
been rightly named 'the prettiest
town inCanada' and could Only add
to the prestige of any college located
therein."
A recent survey of students at
Goderich District Collegiate in-
dicates that a considerable percent=
age of those presently .enrolled in
their fourth and fifth year terms
would benefit immediately from the
courses offered by a College 'of Ap-
plied Arts and Technology. At least
30 of the Grade 13 students indicated
their desire to attend a college of
this type if it were established in
this community.
According to the poll taken at
the high school only last week,
there is a definite need for this type
of education at the post -secondary
school level. A large percentage of
students graduating from the{ two
fourth years of a straight academic
'course have little choice but to take
a job upon graduation since no op-
portunity _ exists in this area of
Western Ontario for them to ad-
vance their training within an arts
or technological field.
Dr. G. F. Mills, energetic mayor of Goderich, ,has .been spear-
heading the movement to Wain 'a regional college for Gode-
rich. Members of the board of regents of the proposed college
for Area 14, which includes Huron, inspected the town as guests
of local officials Monday night. Use of the former Sunset hotel
building is being mooted as a possible college building.
r
A "crash" pregrarn 44 renevltiens would roan put the large
hotel building in first class conditiori, proponents of the plan
believe. Here Is a clomp of ilia front section of the building,
taken through the stately frees which surround it. Much of
the required equipment to furnish the building suitably if on
the premises or readily available.
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