The University of Windsor announced Tuesday that Buttcon Ltd. has been awarded the contract to construct the University’s first downtown facility on the site of the historic former Windsor Star building at the corner of Pitt and Ferry streets.

The location will become the new home of the University’s School of Social Work and its Centre for Executive and Professional Education. The new Social Work and Professional Education Centre (SWPEC) will retain the landmark historic facades that defined the original Windsor Star building. The total cost of the project, including construction, will be $32 million.

With completion expected in Spring 2015, the building will be one of three signature properties to be transformed as part of the University’s plans for a downtown campus expansion as developed by CS&P Architects. Other projects include the former Major F.A. Tilston Armoury Building and the art deco-style former Greyhound Bus depot.

“The University of Windsor is creating new spaces where our students, faculty and staff can be engaged in innovative teaching, learning and discovery, and where they can more effectively partner with local agencies in order to make an impact on our community,” said UWindsor president Alan Wildeman. “We are looking forward to working with Buttcon to make SWPEC an outstanding addition to our University and to the downtown Windsor landscape.”

Buttcon was responsible for the construction of UWindsor’s Toldo Health Education Centre in 2003 and also built Ryerson University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, York University’s Sherman Health Sciences Research Centre, the University of Waterloo’s Lyle Hallman Building, and Carleton University’s Technology and Training Centre. The company is currently working on heritage restorations to St. Michael’s Cathedral and St. Paul’s United Church, both in Toronto.

“Buttcon is thrilled to be back in Windsor,” said the company’s president Peter Di Gaetano. “We are an employee-owned and -driven company that continues to innovate with value added services that promote partnership and success on every project. We are looking forward to mobilizing on this, our latest Windsor-based project, as soon as possible.”