The Board of Trustees has conditionally approved two major capital projects that would revitalize space on campus for research and innovation, as well as student services and teaching and learning.

One project would see the Physical Education Centre (PEC) revitalized to create a new Innovation and Wellness Centre, and is expected to cost $87.5 million. The other project, valued at $31.8 million, would renovate a biomedical research facility. Approval for both projects is conditional on securing full funding from a variety of sources, including philanthropy and government funding for capital projects.

“These two important projects will benefit students, staff and faculty by enhancing facilities for the delivery of student wellness services and innovation programming, as well as space for teaching and leading research,” says Daniel Woolf, Principal and Vice-Chancellor. “Queen’s is pursuing additional funding for these projects and hopes to secure the resources necessary to allow both of them to proceed in the near future. In particular, I would like to thank the alumni and friends of Queen’s who have already generously committed their philanthropic support to the Innovation and Wellness Centre.”

The Innovation and Wellness Centre will feature expanded engineering facilities to increase opportunities for research, student design and learning. It will also house a number of student services and innovation programming.

Should full funding for the Innovation and Wellness Centre be obtained, construction could start as early as September. The university is currently exploring a number of contingency plans to address the temporary closure of the PEC during the construction phase of the project and will continue to work with the student groups and community partners who use the facilities as it develops these plans.

The renovation of the biomedical research facility will create a state-of-art research facility that will build Queen’s capacity in key research areas such as neurological, cardiovascular and cancer research.