As the doors of Nipissing University’s Muskoka campus open for the first time this week, so too does a world of possibilities.

After a long and sometimes bumpy road to completion, the new campus is finally ready to welcome its first students tomorrow.

Campus administrator Jan Lucy recently took a few minutes to host a tour of the building and go over some of the highlights.

The school has come a long way in the dozen years that Lucy has been campus administrator, but literally speaking, it hasn’t moved much at all.

From the second floor, Lucy can look out across Jubilee Park at the R.S. Claus Resource Building where the Muskoka campus first opened its doors in 1996 with two classrooms and seven full-time students.

The new 26,000-square-foot, two-storey facility has a maximum capacity of 675 students and an approximate price tag of $4 million.

The exterior of the building is mostly glass windows, with a rock façade to reflect the “Muskoka” esthetic of the area.

The school has its own parking lot, accessed off Wellington Street, with 54 spots located behind the building. Nipissing also has an agreement with Georgian College and the Rotary Centre for Youth to share all of the spaces in Jubilee Park. Those spots are also available to anyone playing at the baseball diamonds.

The front entrance is located at the rear of the building as you approach from Wellington Street. Several walkways cross a new front lawn that appears to have benefited greatly from a wet summer.

The main lobby has granite slab floors, again to reflect the local topography, and a ceiling that stretches the building’s full two storeys.

A small lounge area is located a few paces from the door, and an indoor garden is found in a well lit corner. Although currently vacant, Lucy said the garden will soon be filled with perennials and perhaps a columnar crabapple tree.

To the left are the administrative offices of the school and to the right is the Lakehouse, a campus bar and restaurant.

The 1,400-square-foot restaurant, which will be open to the general public, will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It will serve students food and coffee, and offer them a place to meet, talk or watch television.

Much of the equipment found in the building was purchased from Muskoka-area retailers.

“Nipissing has been dedicated to buying locally,” said Lucy.

“Everything from the draperies to the furniture to making sure we hire local staff. There have been, and will continue to be, lots of great economic spinoffs for the community.”

The school has a total of 10 classrooms of various sizes, including rooms specifically designed for science and art.

The centrepiece is the 100-seat lecture hall, which can also be rented out for public functions, said Lucy. The room employs state-of-the-art technology, such as smart screens, which allow the user to write on a board, move it around on a screen and even print it off.

All of the rooms have teleconferencing capability, which allows students and teachers to interact with others around the globe.

More teaching space

The rooms on the second floor include more teaching space and a faculty lounge, all with spectacular views out over the park.

The school’s capacity is 675 students, and Lucy said there is plenty of room to grow. A week prior to opening, the school had just over 50 full-time students and close to 100 part-time students enrolled.

“We’re definitely growing. Last year we only had 33 full-time students,” said Lucy. “We’re not there yet, but I expect within the next five years we’ll be full.”

Students choose Nipissing for a variety of reasons, she said. Some enjoy living in a smaller community, others know the area and like it, and some prefer smaller class sizes and more interaction with their teachers.

“This is also the first year we’re offering an honours program and that’s drawing a lot of people back,” said Lucy.

“We’ve also started offering courses in lifelong learning like filmmaking, environmental issues and meditation . . . for people who don’t want a degree but want to stay intellectually stimulated.”

The school also recently announced Dr. Douglas Parker is now in charge of programming for the Muskoka campus. That’s a first for the campus and Lucy said she expects to see some additions to the curriculum as soon as next year.