[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/commercewing.jpg”]Final design and tendering plans for a $3.4 million e-commerce wing to be constructed on the southwest corner of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business building are under way.

The Board of Governors approved the final design and tendering process at its meeting last month.

The addition will be home to a state-of-the-art classroom that will be a focal point for the school's E-Commerce Program. In addition, there will be new space for an expanded PhD program.

“This expansion is essential to our long-range plan for the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business,” said Vishwanath Baba, dean of the School of Business. “It will also include three new classrooms, labs, and office space for faculty expansion. I am particularly excited about new teaching and research facilities for a proposed Institute for Strategic Business studies.”

The addition will be two stories and will include a basement linked to the current building.

Ed Owen, field supervisor for new projects, physical plant, said the tendering process should take place in January 2001 and a projected start date for construction to begin is February. The new wing is slated for completion in August 2001.

In response to a request from the Board's Planning and Building Committee, the design will allow for expansion vertically in future.

The e-commerce annex will not infringe on existing parking and meets the city's requirements for parking spaces, Board documents state.

Funding for this addition comes from a combination of sources including the Access to Opportunities Program, corporate and private donations, Superbuild and the School of Business.