NORTHWEST Community College president Denise Henning would put it more eloquently but her pitch for $45 million at the college’s Terrace campus for a new trades and technical training facility comes down to five words – go big or go home.
So go bigger. Way bigger and call for a brand new college campus in Terrace. The current location on the bench, while a nice setting, is too far out of town making it a classic example of out of sight, out of mind.
It’s hard to schedule bus service there at night, making it difficult to reach for those without a vehicle.
Much the same goes for students in dorms – recreation, food and other amenities are out of reach for those without transportation. That should be a worry for college officials who need to attract students from around the region.
So, where to go? One of the old Skeena Cellulose/Terrace Lumber Company properties on Keith (one portion owned by the city, the other in private hands) could be an ideal conversion to a green-as-you-can-get campus and send a strong message about how this city sees itself in the decades ahead.
If this region is to be subjected to billions and billions in industrial projects, then a facility dedicated to training local people to take full advantage of the planned development is the least that of the legacies that should come out of this development.
Go bigger. Way bigger.