York University will eliminate 3 bids for new campus Friday

YorkRegion.com
April 23, 2014
By Chris Simon

York Region municipalities will learn if they’ve passed the initial test for a university satellite campus Friday.

Newmarket council received an update on its joint satellite campus bid with Aurora, during a meeting Monday afternoon. The municipalities pitched their collaborative plan to the post-secondary institution’s expansion steering committee last week.

The university is expected to whittle down the number of bids  — from the current five to two — this week.

This is going to move very quickly and there’s a lot of excitement, Newmarket CAO Bob Shelton said.

Five bids were made for the campus. A joint effort is unique amongst the bids  and could help the pitch stand out, he said.

Shortlisted municipalities will participate in a second round of presentations May 2. Following that, a preferred location will be announced and the winning bidder will enter into negotiations with university staff. A final submission will be made to the provincial government in September, Mr. Shelton said.

Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen said municipal staff have worked hard to put an excellent pitch together in a relatively short timeframe.

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.

The proposed campus site was chosen for its close proximity to the border between the municipalities and would feature forested parkland, rivers and streams.

It 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.

“This is probably the most exciting thing I’ve worked on in my time at the town,” Regional Councillor John Taylor said.