BMO Financial Group provides lead donation
UVic’s plan to create a centre of cultural and academic support for Indigenous students is one step closer to reality thanks to a gift of $550,000 from BMO Financial Group.
The donation will support the construction of UVic’s First Peoples House, a 12,500 sq.ft. educational facility to be built at the centre of the UVic campus. An imposing two-story foyer at the main entrance to First Peoples House will be named the BMO Financial Group Entrance Hall in recognition of this first major gift to the project.
“First Peoples House is the physical manifestation of the university’s commitment to making UVic more accessible to Aboriginal students,” says UVic President David Turpin. “This generous gift will drive the success of our fundraising efforts to complete First Peoples House.”
“We are especially pleased, as a strong advocate of life-long learning and higher education, to be the lead donor of this ground-breaking cultural and academic Aboriginal centre in Victoria,” says Richard Rudderham, senior vice-president, BC & Yukon Division, BMO Bank of Montreal.
The donation comes at a time when the number of Indigenous students at UVic has increased over 700 per cent since 1999.
“This generous gift from BMO is an investment in the future of Canada’s First Nations communities and in a promising future for Aboriginal students,” says Fran Hunt Jinnouchi, UVic’s director of Indigenous affairs. “Generations of Aboriginal students will find a home-away-from-home here, and they will find the support they need to succeed at university.”
In mid April, Knappett Projects Inc. was named the general contractor for the project, and construction is set to begin this month.
“Knappett’s expertise with West Coast building styles and sustainable construction practices is perfectly suited to the design of this building, which makes extensive use of wood and glass,” says Eugene Heeger, acting executive director of facilities management. Knappett built UVic’s Engineering Office Wing.
First Peoples House is targeted for completion in June 2009 and is expected to achieve gold-level certification with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating Standards program.