As NSCC Ivany Campus dorms open, 200 students to join the community
With a smudging ceremony on a sunny day in Dartmouth, the dormitories at Nova Scotia Community College’s Ivany Campus officially opened on July 30.
The dorms, which are located right next to the main Ivany Campus building, will be home to 200 students. Students can opt for one-bedroom suites as well as shared three- and four-bedroom units. Full washrooms, laundry, kitchen facilities and utilities will be included in every suite. The average monthly cost for a one-bedroom unit will be $1136.88. The facility will have 24-hour on-call security.
In the past, Ivany Campus students have faced a choice between renting off-campus housing or commuting from afar. With skyrocketing rental costs and worsening road congestion, the new dorms bring a third option to students struggling under the city’s changing dynamic.
This new housing option also marks a change for the neighbourhood: 200 students who may have previously come to Ivany only to study will now be living here. Education Minister Brendan Maguire said he expects the influx of students living in the Pleasant-Woodside area to have a positive impact on the neighbourhood.
“You’ll see more people using local businesses,” Maguire told the Post. “Students will spend their money locally, and that’s a good thing for Dartmouth.”
Galone Seto, manager of HFX Games & Collectibles across from the Woodside Ferry Terminal, said the store is excited for the additional students staying in the area. As a games and hobbies store, he said they often see a bump in business from students during the school year, and that hopefully the dorms will bring more customers; however, whether there will be an increase in business remains to be seen.
“We’re not planning for a major shift [in operations,]” Seto told the Post. “But it could very well be that there is a jump and we’ll adjust as needed.”
Don Bureaux, the president of NSCC, said he recognizes there’s a science to integrating student housing into a local community, and that the college has worked with trained professionals to ensure this process is as smooth as possible.
“We have been very, very pleased with the interaction with their local communities,” Bureaux told the Post. “Our municipal leaders have come forward in the communities in which we have our facilities now, and they’ve expressed appreciation for how we take this work so seriously.” There are currently 2,537 students enrolled at Ivany Campus. Per NSCC’s website, priority for housing applications is given to confirmed applicants as well as returning students.
The college is planning a community open house of the dorm facility during the final week of August, where anyone can come see the units and get further information about on-campus housing.
The Ivany Campus dorms, which cost $58.6 million, mark the third of seven planned on-campus housing projects for NSCC, with dorms opening up last year in Pictou and Akerley, with 50 and 100 beds respectively.