So long, College Drive — Yukon College wants 'University Drive' address
College will officially become Yukon University this spring
Yukon College is looking to change its address in Whitehorse.
The campus isn't moving — but the school will soon be a university, and it wants to lose the "College Drive" street signs.
"Just for practical reasons, we want it to be called University Drive," said Jacqueline Bedard, executive director of government relations with Yukon College.
"You know, for way-finding reasons I suppose, when people from out of town are looking for the university they'll be able to find it."
College Drive links the Ayamdigut campus to Range Road. School officials have asked the city to change the name of the road ahead of the official launch of Yukon University in May.
"I spent a year and a half or two years talking to everybody who might be impacted — you know, the jail, the seniors, the archives, the art centre," Bedard said.
The Whitehorse Correctional Centre, Yukon Archives, Yukon Arts Centre and a seniors' residence are all situated along College Drive.
Bedard said the only objection came from the seniors' residence.
"The seniors said, 'We're not keen on having our address changed.' And so we agreed to put forward a request to keep that little piece of the road in front of the seniors' residence 'College Drive.'"
Bedard said the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation were consulted and they support the change, but they also made a request — that the ring road on campus be given a Southern Tutchone name.
City officials are recommending that council make the name change to University Drive in the coming weeks.
The college has been working for years to become a full-fledged, degree-granting university. It's planning to hold a celebration on May 9 to mark the official transition.
"We're just starting, behind the scenes, to implement the new brand — the new Yukon University logo, the new colours, all of the graphic elements of that on stationery and such, so that we'll be ready to start rolling some of that out," Bedard said.
