COASTAL NEWS
INNOVATIVE VOCATIONAL TRAINING AT MALASPINA UNIVERSITY-COLLEGE
Fred MacDonald, Dean of Trades and Applied Technology at Nanaimo’s Malaspina University-College, was one of the presenters at the 2005 Conference of Coastal Communities. Dean MacDonald came to the Conference to tell us about the innovative examples of vocational training now available at Malaspina University-College.
Last year, the Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce faced a unique challenge. The organization wanted to construct a new office building in the community with a limited budget. The Chamber turned to Malaspina’s Carpentry Program for assistance, and students were invited to take on the construction of the most advanced structure they had ever attempted.
Students in the Carpentry Program built the new offices, while the interior was designed by the Malaspina University-College Interior Design Project. The result, as you’ll see below, is a beautiful new building – and a successful joint project that took students out of the traditional classroom/shop experience to face “live” training challenges.
Malaspina Carpentry students framing the news offices of Nanaimo's Chamber of Commerce
Drywalling the interior
Opening reception for the news offices of Nanaimo's Chamber of Commerce, with a view of the interior designed
by the
MUC Interior Design Project
Congratulations to Malaspina University-College and the Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce
Impressed by Malaspina’s success in Nanaimo, I suggested to Fred that he expand this to the community of Powell River, where Malaspina has a regional campus. Powell River is renowned for its magical gardens, early 20th Century architecture, and a blossoming heritage and cultural tourism industry.
Central to Powell River’s reputation as a heritage-tourism destination is its Townsite community. Townsite was designated in 1995 as a National Historic District in recognition of its status as the site of the first pulp and paper mill in western Canada, and as a unique and essentially intact example of an early 20th Century planned town following the Garden City Planning principles of the time.
The preservation of Townsite’s remarkable architecture has been key to its growing success as a tourism destination. My suggestion to Dean MacDonald was to add a heritage carpentry component to its carpentry program in Powell River.
Dean MacDonald was happy to report back to me that, with housing starts up again in BC, Malaspina is offering a carpentry “framer technician” program for the first time in ten years. In a small community like Powell River, Malaspina can custom design additional training programs to the needs of the community, such as a three-month restoration course. With the help of my staff in Ottawa, Fred is looking into federal funding options for the program.
Follow these links for more information about:
Malaspina University-College’s Carpentry Program in Powell River
Powell River’s Historic Townsite
The Nanaimo Chamber
of Commerce’s new offices
I welcome your feedback! Please contact me.