Canberra tech campus sacrificed for south-side
The Canberra Institute of Technology’s (CIT) Woden campus will close sometime near the end of 2017.
CIT has a new board, which has been working out what to do with the ageing facility, amid a big campus modernisation project.
The ACT Government announced earlier this year that it would fund an $11 million new CIT campus in Tuggeranong to boost activity in the south-side town centre.
CIT deputy director Nicole Stenlake said the insutution was setting up for the future.
“We are looking at closing Woden by the end of 2017,” she said in a radio interview this week.
“[We want to] create modern state-of-the-art learning facilities for all of our learners, no matter where in Canberra they might be.”
Woden Valley Community Council president Martin Miller said was a bad time for Woden.
“Woden has been suffering economically with federal and local public service relocations,” Mr Miller said.
“It's really not the time to be cannibalising one town centre for another.”
Dr Stenlake said two decisions were separate.
“[The closure] is not directly linked to what we're doing in Tuggeranong,” she said.
“It's part of a broader vision for campus modernisation.”