Sensational-Adelaide.com

UniSA may scale back City West campus expansion

Subbed KaraUNISA may scale back the expansion of its City West campus, including a new health centre off Hindley St, following news of a push to save the Magill Campus from closure.

All 6000 Magill students were expected to transfer to the city under plans to close the eastern suburbs campus by 2017.

But that number could be halved if new vice-chancellor Professor David Lloyd has his way and Magill is preserved as an education hub, including a new R-12 school.

Chief operating officer Paul Beard said the university might scale back plans for a $145 million building on Hindley St, next to the $95 million learning centre that is under construction and set for completion next year.

“I think we’d be taking a few thousand rather than 6000 students,” he said.

“That would probably reduce the scale of what we planned for that site.”

Mr Beard said the new building might end up being a similar size to the learning centre, the two mirroring each other around a central plaza.

He said it would be a health hub for research and teaching, particularly clinical training across areas such as nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy, and complement the new South Australian Medical Health and Research Institute being built on North Tce.

The university could rent out part of the building at first and grow into it over time, he said.

Mr Beard said the North Tce facade of City West would be transformed with cafes and shops within two years.

“I’d say we’d hope to have it done in time for the opening of the (new Royal Adelaide) Hospital, maybe before,” he said.

Other projects such as the upgrade George St into a pedestrian-only green space would also go ahead, he said.

However, Mr Beard stressed there was no rush to finalise plans as there was still plenty of time to complete the overhaul of the campus within the 2020 time frame of UniSA’s City West masterplan.

“We don’t have to rush out and commit to everything today,” he said.

“We’re looking to firm up our plans this year.

“We’re really still looking at what to do with Magill.”

A $4 million upgrade of Hindley St, funded by UniSA and all three tiers of government, will be done in second half of the year.