613 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

Post any news/rumours/updates about UVic here.

BTW, my dad was among the first wave of students at UVic in '62 when classes were transferred from Victoria College (now Camosun's Lansdowne campus) to the new campus at UVic. He was a cartoonist for the Martlet, too.

You might find this interesting:

Edited by Rob Randall, 18 February 2018 - 08:00 AM.

[gumgum]

That's a cool little map.
Is that area "Zoned for High-rise apts" got highrises in it now? Not very familiar with the campus.

[simon]

Ha! Gardens, empty lots & parking lots.

http://www.uvic.ca/maps/3dmap.html

Apparently Finnerty Gardens is quite nice though.

[Scaper]

^ welcome!!

Cool link. I grew up in Broadmead. One of the people up the road from us was a fellow named Mr. Luhbrunner he had a massive nursery on his property. When he died he donated hundreds of plants some very rare to Uvic.

[Rob Randall]

There's some funny stuff in the Martlet archives:

http://gateway.uvic.... ... /1960.html

There's a 1963 article on what the heck the new campus' nickname should be. The leading candidates:

UVIC
UNIVIC
UVORIA
UV
U of V

Others had a problem with the name "University of Victoria" itself and recommended:

Victoria Academy
Victoria College University
Vancouver Island University U of L and GH (Lansdowne and Gordon Head)
CBC (College of BC)
U of VBC (Victoria, BC)

and my favourite:

Lansdowne and University of Gordon Head (L.A.U.G.H.)

Above that article is one on the arrival of an actual computer to the campus, an IBM 1620 (a rental) with a blazing fast 1 mhz processor. It was intended to be shared between all the departments.

And there's reports on tons of student pranks. My favourite is the Nazi naval flag stolen from the Maritime Museum and run up the big flagpole on the Legislature lawn as a comment on the Socred government raising tuition fees.

[Rob Randall]

The Martlet

April 2, 1964

The Riddle of Landsdowne: No High Rises - But What?

by Brian Case

University Development Board plans to rezone the Landsdowne Campus land for high-rise apartments has been shot down in flames by Oak Bay residents.

Two hundred fifty Oak Bay residents attended the last Oak Bay Council meeting to protest the proposed apartment rezoning. Several were reported to have carried banners reading "Vote No".

The university had hoped to gain $700,000 through sale of the land.

However, Development Board Manager Floyd Fairclough told the Martlet that plans have been made which should be well accepted by Oak Bay residents, will increase property value, not block any views and will earn the university a sizable bundle of cash.

No details will be released until the end of the week at the earliest. They first have to be submitted to the members of the development board and representatives of the Oak Bay Council, explained Mr. Fairclough.

"We've got the answer this time," he added.

PLANS CONFIDENTIAL

Since plans are so confidential, The Martlet can only speculate on imminent development of the Lansdowne Campus. What site on a hill doesn't block the view, will increase property value, and will be accepted by Oak Bay residents, as well as earn the university an acceptable amount of cash?

A crew of Martlet reporters tracked down the following suggestions: a circus; a university pub (can't fail to make a fortune); the most likely suggestion which will meet all requirement is an underground structure for Oak Bay residents to hold protest meetings, with a gallery for paid admissions.

[G-Man]

Dang I want a circus!

$$ 700 000 Good thing they didn't sell!!!

[Holden West]

The "fortune-making" pub joke is funny in light of the embezzlement scandal at Felicita's pub a few years back. It only makes a fortune if the person in charge of the cash is honest.

[aastra]

That stuff about blocked views is pretty funny. Is there a legitimate "view" to be had anywhere on that campus? You can see Mt. Doug from the north side. Big whoop.

If highrise buildings had been built, the residents in them would have views of the ocean, Mt. Baker and maybe even the Olympics. As it is now, nobody has a view of anything.

This new learning centre should have had a public area on the top floor offering views of the strait.

[Holden West]

I think the Lansdowne Campus refers to today's Camosun--so it would appear both campuses were targeted for highrise construction.

It would have been interesting if the highrises had been built closer to commercial activity--say the newly constructed Hillside mall with a commuter line of some kind (monorails were in style back then) over to UVic.

[Scaper]

Hi-rises should have been built on that Camosun campus. Now there isn't enough learning space there so the main campus has been built way out in the Burbs in Saanich. Adding to the massive Saanich Sprawl.

[aastra]

Anybody remember when that subdivision behind Camosun's parking lot was a patch of forest?

Even before I found SSP and embarked on the path to enlightenment I was a firm believer in putting Camosun's parking underground and building new buildings on the lot. Camosun is a dense little campus, it's just not very big. Love the Young Building.

[G-Man]

I like Landsdowne Campus but it certainly could be bigger.

[VicHockeyFan]

I hated University.

I'm a second-year drop-out.

[Holden West]

Hi-rises should have been built on that Camosun campus. Now there isn't enough learning space there so the main campus has been built way out in the Burbs in Saanich. Adding to the massive Saanich Sprawl.

They were proposing regular residential, not campus space. Remember, this was before Camosun. I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning on demolishing the Young Building around that time. If they had built those residential highrises, Camosun's entire campus would likely have been built out in the burbs.

---

UVic opens cutting-edge sciences building


Samir Shrestha surveys the view from the fifth floor of the new engineering building at UVic.
Photograph by : Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist

Louise Dickson, Times Colonist
Published: Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Susan Perkins used to wait in line for 45 minutes to use the computer science lab in the University of Victoria's engineering wing.

This fall, the fourth-year software engineering student has no waits and all the equipment she needs to complete her assignments in the new state-of-the art $25-million UVic Engineering/Computer Science building.

"This atmosphere is highly conducive to learning," Perkins said yesterday at the building's opening ceremony, attended by Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell and UVic president David Turpin.

[...]
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006

[Mike K.]

That's a freaky building. Very modern, almost science fiction-like especially at night. Hell, even the elevators "speak" to ya...no jokes.


There are three major projects on the go up at UVic, btw.

[Holden West]

"How am I going to pay off these student loans? Maybe I should jump..."

[larrobb]

the possibility of a jumper within that building is probably very real someday. nothing to prevent someone from doing it if they wanted to, that's for sure. the annoying british voice of the talking elevators just may be what pushes someone over the edge if they're already stressed enough. nice building overall, great views from the top floor. the waterless urinals are kind of creepy though.

[VicHockeyFan]

Statue of entrepreneur raises some concerns
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Font: * * * * Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist
Published: Monday, October 30, 2006
The footings for the statue are poured, and a group calling themselves the Friends of Michael Williams is poised to throw a party that includes unveiling a life-size statue of the art collector and entrepreneur.

While the city of Victoria has only given six-month permission for the statue to stay on a slim boulevard on the west side of Market Square, an organizer says it is unlikely to move.

Donna Thomas, who is spearheading the Friends group, said they are pouring the footings and have hired a crane to install the statue on the basis that the location is permanent. She doesn't think the city council will force the statue to be moved given the support she believes exists for keeping it there.

[...]

[Holden West]

I'm with Pam on this one. Those treaclely statues creep me out and we can't have a monument to every wealthy man in Victoria on every streetcorner. This is not a slight against Williams--he was a great man. Williams built his empire by playing by the rules and a revitialized Old Town is the beautiful result of his efforts. Let's not sully his reputation by flaunting City Hall and finding legal loopholes in which to force this statue on the City.

That's interesting about the potential new gallery. Obviously, the Williams collection is not enough to sustain a stand-alone gallery so I imagine it will be the ground floor feature of a mult-storey mixed-use building.