Aurora, Newmarket make joint bid for York University campus

YorkRegion.com
Apr 17, 2014
By Chris Simon

It’s official. Newmarket and Aurora have submitted a joint bid for a York University campus.

The partnership was announced today as representatives — including Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen, Aurora Mayor Geoff Dawe, Southlake Regional Health Centre president and CEO Dr. Dave Williams and Newmarket Regional Councillor John Taylor — pitched their vision to the university’s expansion steering committee.

“Aurora-Newmarket is unmatched in York Region as a thriving, stable and sustainable community that is ideally suited to host a post-secondary institution,” Mr. Taylor said in a media release. “Let us move forward together and create an educational legacy for (the) region and university. This is our time.”

As part of the proposal, the campus would be built on a 240-acre property near the Yonge Street and St. John’s Sideroad intersection, a location chosen for its close proximity to the border between municipalities. The site also features 60 acres of forested parkland, rivers and streams.

The bid has the support of King Township, which sees an opportunity to incorporate an already approved $130-million expansion of the municipality’s Seneca College campus into the Aurora-Newmarket proposal.

“As the only site at the heart of (the) region, Aurora-Newmarket is the logical location for York/Seneca to attract students from all areas of York, Simcoe County and Durham Region,” Mr. Van Bynen said.

An Aurora-Newmarket campus offers a wealth of partnering opportunities. The municipalities already host headquarters for Magna International, the region, York Regional Police, York District School Board and York Catholic District School Board. Newmarket’s Southlake Regional Health Centre has also partnered with York on several initiatives in recent years.

“We are shovel ready,” Mr. Dawe said.

“We have the required infrastructure that is unavailable in northern locales.”