Stories of Support
University of Toronto students’ union champions the landmark project
Brilliant professors, the world’s most diverse city, 700 undergrad programs and more than 1,000 clubs and organizations are not the only reasons students choose to study at the University of Toronto.
“The beauty and grandeur of the St. George campus is also a huge draw for students,” says Mathias Memmel (BMusP 2016), President of the University of Toronto Students’ Union. “King’s College Circle in particular is a place where people want to hang out between classes, play sports or discuss ideas in a setting so vital to the intellectual life of U of T and Toronto. UTSU is excited about the Landmark Project because it will make this beloved and iconic space even better for students.”
INSPIRING PLACES TO COME TOGETHER
The Landmark Project will create a cohesive and welcoming network of people-centric spaces that students, faculty and visitors will enjoy for generations to come. The most transformative open-space plan in the University’s almost two-hundred-year history, the Project will dramatically reduce surface parking in areas surrounding King’s College Circle and Hart House Circle and introduce magnificent new gardens, plazas and meandering paths that will unify the University’s heritage grounds for the first time in decades.
“On behalf of the University, I wish to thank UTSU for their enthusiastic support of this transformative initiative,” says U of T President Meric Gertler. “Revitalizing our green spaces and creating beautiful new areas where students can socialize and relax will make the St. George campus an even more vibrant, socially dynamic and inspiring place.”
A WORLD-CLASS CAMPUS EXPERIENCE
The Landmark Project will create a campus experience befitting U of T’s status as one of the world’s great universities.
“University campuses are, above all, places to engage in social and intellectual exchange,” says University College Principal and academic co-lead of the project, Donald C. Ainslie. “These new and refreshed spaces will encourage students and faculty to spend more time on campus; they’ll create more occasions for the types of informal gatherings and impromptu conversations that can be life-changing.”
“A world-class education deserves a truly world-class campus,” adds Memmel. “We share the University’s vision of a modern campus that is fully integrated into the social, cultural, intellectual and environmental life of the city. On behalf of 50,000 full-time undergraduate students, I encourage all supporters of the University’s mission to help us realize that vision.”
Posted on April 4, 2018