Feds pledge millions for MUN's Battery facelift, brings project total to $25 million

The federal government announced an additional $4.1 million to go towards Memorial University's re-working of the former Battery Hotel on Friday.

The new money brings the federal government's total to $8.63 million to complement the $16.2 million being spent by the university.

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Despite many existing buildings on campus operating in disrepair, MUN president Dr. Gary Kachanoski defended the decision to redevelop the Battery building. The federal money comes under the Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund, with a focus on innovation, and requires matching funds from the school.

"This fits that [government funding] program perfectly," he said. "And, of course, we had the matching funding coming from the Battery being a self-sufficient facility with revenue from the graduate students' residence paying for it."

The school will relocate four of its current innovation centres to the Battery, creating its provincial centre for innovation and public engagement.

"We'll have all kinds of activities happening up there where community partners are going to be able to come in and engage with us," Kachanoski said.

Memorial purchased the hotel in 2013 for $9 million and converted part of it into an 85-room residence for graduate students. In April, demolition began on the former west wing of the hotel, one year after work began on the exterior of the building.

The Battery will be the new home for the Gardiner Centre, the Genesis Centre and the Harris Centre.

Kachanoski said the university continues to work on "all other aspects of infrastructure," having set aside $8 million annually for deferred maintenance.