The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THERE is strong “optimism” concerning negotiations for a new permanent location in Freeport for the University of the Bahamas North after the loss of the $10m campus and $4.5m residence hall in East Grand Bahama due to Hurricane Dorian.

Dr Ian Strachan, vice president of UB North, believes that an announcement could be made about an existing location in Freeport once the school’s insurance claim is settled.

“We have been the first stop on many tours of damage caused by Dorian here on Grand Bahama, and we are obviously very adversely affected as we lost access to our campus,” he said recently when asked for an update on a new campus location.

“We are in the process of finding a new location and we have been in negotiations with the owners of some existing spaces. Those conversations have gone well, and we have been in talks with government and we are at this point I would say waiting to settle our insurance claims which are outstanding.

“But I am optimistic that once that is settled, we will be able to make an announcement quickly. I can say we are working diligently, and we had our architecture students down who are doing some designs.”

According to Dr Strachan, representatives from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have also come down and looked at the potential location, and how they can deal with events like Dorian.

“I can say I am more optimistic than I have been that we could make an announcement soon,” he said.

The UB North campus - situated on 50 acres of land in East Grand Bahama - sustained severe damage as a result of a 20ft to 25ft surge when the monster storm passed over the eastern end of the island.

The 50 acres is a part of the 220 acres granted to the university by the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

The campus consisted of 18 classrooms, four faculty offices, a library, computer and science laboratories, a bookstore, a café, a conference room, and an administrative area.

The entire ground floor of the university building was wiped out, but is still structurally sound, according to Dr Strachan.

In May 2018, UB completed the construction of a new 80-student residence hall at a cost of $4.5 million.

Dr Strachan indicated that the building is still structurally sound and that the campus in East Grand Bahama could be used as a research facility for climate change.

“This storm has inspired us to think about how we can use the campus that was damaged fruitfully. We have decided we will dedicate it to climate change and atmospheric science to environmental marine science, and make it a field research station going forward so that it can be dedicated to the very forces that caused this disruption,” he said.

He believes that Grand Bahama is unique in terms of its experience with storms.

“I think we have some very interesting climatic features on this island because we are the most northern island. It would be good for us to say that future meteorologists of The Bahamas are trained in Grand Bahama. That is what I would like to see emerge out of this event,” said Dr Strachan.