SDU Main Building in February. All photos taken by Devon Thistle.
The UPEI Campus Review series continues, with Review #3 centered around the SDU Main Building, commonly referred to as the “Main Building”. The SDU Main is home to professors and classes in the Faculty of Arts at UPEI. Rightfully so, as the Main building was built in 1862. This construction date is common knowledge, as a stone that dates the structure is situated above the primary door. The exterior of the building is impressive, with beautiful architecture showing the old, colonial style popular at the time of construction. Sadly, for the Main Building, a lot of the praise ends there.
Once you enter the building itself, you begin to see the full picture. The building is sorely outdated. Now, outdated is a challenging word to use when critiquing an old, historically significant building such as the Main. However, if a building is still serving as an academic center, it needs to be updated enough to serve the students and staff alike. Unfortunately, the Main Building does not live up to this task.
A major fault becomes apparent as soon as you walk past the primary door: the elevator. During peak class times, a queue forms on the ground floor of the elevator. This can pose issues for those who are handicapped, as waiting in line to use the elevator when they have no other choice can cause significant delays in reaching class on time.
The problems do not end there, as ventilation is a critical issue inside the Main. This problem has been highlighted by the staff, as one of the promises given by the University Administration to the Faculty Association after last year’s strike was that the cooling and ventilation in the Main would be updated. Many reports indicated that such a renovation would have taken place last summer. However, that did not happen, as no such updated cooling or ventilation system was ever installed. This becomes a significant issue when attending Summer classes, or even classes at the beginning of the year in September.
It’s not only myself and the Faculty Association who understand the challenges inside the Building. Philip Harding, a regular at the Main, also sees the problems that need addressing. He even added to the list of concerns, stating:
“Main building has some big flaws. It’s crumbling from the inside out. Look at the shingles on the roof. There is bare wood exposed on the roof of the building. If that doesn’t tell you about the current state of this [Main] building, I don’t know what does.”
As previously stated, it’s hard to critique and rate a building as being outdated when the building isn’t even from the last century. However, the primary purpose of the Main Building, like every other building on campus, is to serve both students and staff to a reasonable degree.
The Main Building severely lacks in this metric. Due to this, I give the Main a 4/10, which is, to date, the lowest ranking of the series. Despite its incredible architecture and design, the building itself does not serve its audience to the level one would expect from a campus building.
By: Devon Thistle,
Managing Editor