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Work begins on “world-class” Calgary crane-training facility

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology broke ground in early November on a new facility for its crane and hoist operator training programs.

“This new facility will dramatically enhance the learning environment for SAIT students and will include the best technology available, from crane simulators to a full crane maintenance shop, to labs designed specifically for ironworkers,” Dr. David Ross, SAIT’s president and CEO, said in a news item announcing the ground-breaking on the institution’s website. “By providing real-world experience, coupled with robust industry-specific academic programs, we will set our students up for success so our future crane operators and iron workers are job-ready and able to make a contribution to employers as soon as they graduate.”

Alberta Advanced Education is providing the facility with an operating grant of $5.35 million over five years.

The 30,000 square foot facility, scheduled to open in the fall of 2017, is being built on an eight-acre property in Calgary at 10490-72 St. SE, the news release noted. Centron, a Calgary-based construction firm and developer, is purpose-building the facility for SAIT. Its design resembles that of other SAIT satellite facilities such as the institution’s culinary campus in downtown Calgary.

The new facility will “house world-class applied learning labs” as well as “the largest array of crane simulators in North America,” the release said. It will also have a laydown yard equipped with mobile cranes and boom trucks as well as a “fully functioning” maintenance shop for cranes.

The facility’s classrooms, study spaces and meeting rooms are expected to accommodate “hundreds of future workers in apprenticeship programs.”

The ground-breaking came only a few weeks after SAIT celebrated its centennial on Oct. 16.