The University of St.Gallen is bursting at the seams. Its Rosenberg economics campus is designed for 5,000 students but currently has 8,500, plus an additional 3,000 employees. Now, a new campus is planned for the Platztor site in the city centre to create more space. This week, the St.Gallen government approved the corresponding dispatch.
Investment in the structure is expected to reach 207 million Swiss francs, with a contribution of 25 million francs from the federal government and 20 million francs from the University of St.Gallen. Furthermore, with the sale of the land at Platztor, the City of St.Gallen will offer input of 2 million francs. This leaves a credit requirement of 160 million francs for the canton, which will go to a public vote in June 2019.
If everything goes according to plan, an architectural competition will follow the referendum. Construction will then begin in 2024 for scheduled completion in 2027.
The site at Platztor amounts to 14,000 square metres and will offer new space for teaching and research across lecture, seminar and class rooms. Among the disciplines based in the new building will be the full-time MBA programme. The ground floor will be open to the public, with the aim of better connecting the university to the city.
The new campus is one of three expansion projects at the university. There are also plans to renovate the Rosenberg library and to create a Learning Center for 700 students by 2022, also at Rosenberg.
