Southeast College issues RFP for Moosomin

May 28, 2019, 2:11 am
Kara Kinna

Southeast College has issued a request for proposals looking for space for the college in Moosomin.

The college’s current lease expires in June of 2020 and the college is looking for a facility to accommodate Moosomin campus students and staff by June 2020. The facility needs to be approximately 4,000 to 6,500 square feet and will include one shop area, four classrooms, five offices, a reception area, student lounge area, and public washrooms. Parking is also required for a minimum of 25 spots.

Jeff Richards, the Southeast College’s Vice President of Strategic Development, says the college would be looking to lease as opposed to buy.

“If we can get 4,000 to 6,500 square feet, that seems to suit our needs well. It gives us room to be flexible and do the things that we not only need to do, but things we want to do,” he says.

“Right now what we are looking for is to meet those size requirements, to get the four classrooms and a shop area for the electrical program, and then the administrative spaces that we need. If there were bonuses beyond that with the facility, then that would be great.”

He says having at least one overhead shop door for the electrical program would also be an asset “but we could work around a lack of those.”

The building would house all of the college’s programs at the Moosomin campus.

The closing date for RFPs is June 21, 2019 at 1 pm and the college would be looking to be moved into a new location by June 2020. If no suitable location is found, they would be open to staying in their current location and renewing that lease.

“This would be a 2020 project. We need to have lots of time if we are going to move. We would be looking to do something in June, in one year,” says Richards.”

Richards says it’s standard procedure for Southeast College to issue RFPs whenever a lease expires.

“This isn’t anything more than us as a college doing what we think we do well, which is being good stewards,” he says. “Our current lease is expiring in June of next year, so we do this with everything, whether it’s a vehicle lease or equipment lease. We review it completely and make sure that we are getting the best value for the taxpayers dollars that we can get.

“It isn’t to say that we necessarily want to move, it’s to say are we doing the best we can in the best place we can. It’s just a stewardship piece for us.

“It’s the right thing to do and we do this in all of our communities where we lease space.”

What would the ideal location include?

“What we would like to have is something probably a little bit bigger than what we have right now that is economical so that we can remain flexible,” says Richards. “Because that’s one of the things I think I can pride our college on doing is that we are pretty flexible to the needs of the community, and we are pretty flexible to the needs of the learner and their employers.

“We like to have the flexibility to be able to offer things and then stop offering them, and offer something new. So you need to have a space that accommodates that too. So space flexibility is important.

“And we have to be economical because we do try very hard to be very responsible with the tax dollars.”

As part of the RFP, the college is looking at options for leasing for one year, three years, five years and 10 years.

The facility will require adequate heating and cooling, standard electrical, town water and sewer, internet service, wheelchair access, parking, and must meet local and provincial building codes, fire codes and environmental concerns.

The Moosomin campus is currently leasing space at 610 Park Avenue.