By Joe Johnson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 23, 2013
UFV announced last month that it would once again be expanding its presence, this time in historical downtown Chilliwack. However, unlike the rigorously planned new building at Canada Education Park, this development came as an unexpected turn of events when the Bank of Montreal (BMO) decided to donate their unused building to the university.
The building, located on Chilliwack’s five corners, joins the project to redevelop and better the heart of Chilliwack’s downtown core. By donating the building to UFV instead of putting it on the market, the university’s presence will now be a part of that redevelopment.
As the largest one-time donation in BMO’s BC history, this step has been in the making for some time.
As BMO moved out of the building to a new location across town and had no direct purpose for their former location, the Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation (CEPCO) saw it as an opportunity for a win-win situation all around.
“That donation from the Bank of Montreal – we encouraged the bank to look at that [option],” John Jansen, president of CEPCO, says. In terms of a larger plan for the downtown area, Jansen says this has the potential develop into a university plaza.
But two questions arise: what does this mean for UFV, and what will be made of the space?
First and foremost, with the building secured, program planning is now in place to be completely rolled out by the fall 2013 semester.
While plans are not 100 per cent complete, according to Madeleine Hardin, executive director of university advancement, the university is looking at a community-based set of courses to offer in that location.
“We’re hoping for appropriate community programming that would meet the needs of the area,” Hardin says, “So business and upgrading courses, those sorts of things.”
Although acquiring a building before you know exactly what you will do with it can appear backwards, in this case it is the result of confidentiality agreements.
“ … a deal like this, when it comes about, there has to be a lot of secrecy around it. And that means even from our own deans, some of them can’t know,” Hardin explains. “So we’re in a position of receiving the building prior to our deans having the opportunity to think of robust programming … but of course we did have a good idea of some of the things we wanted in there.”
However, developing programming isn’t the only thing to consider upon accepting this donation.
There are costs, both upfront and operational.
In this case, much of the upfront costs for building maintenance upgrades, renovations and repurposing are going to be covered by CEPCO, as they have stepped up and provided a $650,000 grant, according to UFV chief financial officer Jackie Hogan.
However, the operational costs, will be left to UFV at an estimated $65,000 annually, which includes ongoing maintenance, utilities and security. There is also the possibility for added overhead if new staff need to be hired based on the final programming decisions.
In hopes of covering these expenses, Hogan notes, that “the operating costs are expected to be fully offset by revenue,” and also that there is the potential to lease some of the space to a third party.
“The decision to accept the donation was based on full analysis of all aspects of the offer,” Hogan says. “Financial information was a significant factor. The business case, which recognized the value of the building as a significant asset to UFV plus the value of the CEPCO contribution, supported accepting the donation.”
When both the BMO donation and CEPCO’s grant are taken together, UFV is the recipient of an estimated $1.5 million.
Finally, there are the intangible benefits such as regaining a location in downtown Chilliwack, a title that would have disappeared with the sale of Yale Road campus.
And as to whether this may only be the beginning of major donations to UFV, Hardin says that it’s definitely a sign.
“It’s a signal to the community that we’re ready to accept good gifts,” she concludes, “and that we can manage large gifts like this.”
