Welcome back to a new semester! I would like to wish one and all an exciting and fulfilling 2013.
As we begin a new year, I am also happy to announce the opening of a brand new facility at UTown – the EduSports Complex.
Designed as a mixed-use complex, EduSports has something for everyone. For the sports enthusiast, there is a rock climbing wall, a well-equipped gym to challenge your strength and endurance, two multipurpose sports halls with badminton and basketball courts, as well as a recreational pool.
If you are more inclined towards the performing arts, there are dance studios and orchestra practice rooms.
EduSports also offers a range of dining choices, including a large food court overlooking Town Green, Japanese, Taiwanese and vegan food outlets. For those with a passion to read, Book Haven, stocks a range of books, magazines as well as e-reading gadgets. For students or staff looking for a space for an activity or simply a group discussion, there are seminar rooms, an auditorium and four lecture theatres, as well as open discussion spaces which you can utilise. The ground level of EduSports features a Visitors Centre, which is co-located with the NUS Office of Admissions.
The completion of the EduSports Complex brings the construction of UTown to completion. The sporting and arts dimensions offered by EduSports complement the existing educational facilities at the Education Resource Centre, bringing full circle to our vision of UTown as a pulsating hub for both academic pursuits as well as the holistic development of our students.
When we conceived of and planned for UTown, we wanted UTown to be a place that will enrich the experiences of all our staff and students. It is exciting to see how UTown is shaping up and I hope that UTown will form part of the fond memories you have of NUS.
See you around the campus and at UTown soon!
U-Town is a great place. Thanks for giving the big picture.
Hmm, could we have some kind of official statement on the renaming of Angsana College to Alice and Peter Tan College?
How much they contributed to the building project of that part of U-Town, etc.
It broke the trend of naming the Residential Colleges after Singaporean trees, so it’s looking a bit odd at the moment.
Interestingly this seems to be the first time any building has been named after two people, rather than a single person or a company. Correct me if I’m wrong on that.
NUS made a media release and you can find it on our webpage. The donors have requested for confidentiality in the amount donated, and we respect that. Suffices to say that it is substantial and will help many students of the College. When UTown was built, we have used the names of trees (and plants) as place-holders. We have the intention to raise monies to support the programmes, and we have been reasonably successful.
Great place for students! Curious about the swimming pool, how will it be operated?
They are still running tests, and it should be soon.
Will there be any student-run shops or entrepreneurship start-ups?
Any comments on why it’s called eduSPORTS when there are many aesthetics groups that share a lot of the space as well?
It is a combination of educational facilities, sports facilities and performing arts facilities, and hence the play of words in Edusports. We could not “squeeze” in arts or culture into it.
When will the gym and pool open?
I mentioned the pool earlier. The gym should be ready by end Feb when all the equipment will arrive.
Hi Prof. Tan,
Utown really looks good now. It’s a pity I had to graduate before all these facilities came up.
As an alumNUS, I just have a few concerns.
What’s being done to bridge the divide between the new campus to the main Kent Ridge one?
Besides the physical bridge across the AYE, accommodation and the prices of most F & B outlets are relatively higher than that of KRC. Are we encouraging some sort of a socio-economic divide here?
What is being done to ensure that Utown does not in itself become a bubble/ivory tower where students live comfortably for their entire undergraduate life? I’ve had juniors (Year 1s and 2s), who’ve matriculated and only ever hung out in UTown, only commuting to the other side for short lectures and tutorials.
Also, new RCs also see the formation of new College Student Committees. What’s in the long-term pipeline to ensure that these committees work with, and not compete with, other representative student organisations in the rest of NUS e.g. NUSSU, Constituent faculty clubs.
I’ve written a note on this issue, as well as met up with Prof. Tan Tai Yong and Prof. Tan Teck Koon. I’ll be glad to share more when you are able to listen. Thank you!
Thanks, these are important concerns, but UTown is very much still “work in progress”. Students, particularly freshmen, will not spend all their time in UTown. Classes are spread all over and it is impossible to have all classes for a particular discipline to be held at UTown. The differences in food prices are inevitable, fact is, the prices in the other parts of campus are very low! We will continue to monitor. Do share your ideas with us.
Hi Prof. Tan,
As a NUS student, I have witnessed the growing human traffic in Utown. The entire Utown community is primarily served by only two feeder buses D1/2 which penetrate the heavy traffic during peak hours in Lower Kent Ridge Rd and Kent Ridge Cresc. Students who commute in and out of UTtown during peak hours have to take D1/2 and contend with the traffic/human congestion in the above mention roads.
With the Yale-NUS College due to completion, I expect the growth in human traffic to put untold strain on this infrastructure.
Perhaps a shuttle bus service to Dover MRT that loops the perimeter of Utown (College Ave East/West, Create Way) will be an attractive option for Utown community to commute in and out of Utown during peak hour, bypassing the congestion in the kent ridge main campus altogether.
Yale-NUS will not be completed until much later, and that will give us some breathing space. We are constantly monitoring the traffic situation and will strive to make improvements.
Hi Prof Tan,
Edusports (or Stephen Riady Center) really puts the “Town” in U-Town! But what about the other sporting/arts facilities in the main campus? They seem to be overshadowed by U-Town. Are there any plans/developments on the horizon for SRCs and the Halls of Residences?
very good question, Peng Sing. Was wondering about the potential of a “new” vs “old” campus divide in my previous comments.