Major changes on Canisius campus

By Javohir Aminov, News Editor 

Exciting changes have been made to Canisius University. From selling a historic building to renovations, Canisius has big plans for the future. 

Lyons Hall is a century old building, founded in 1889 for the sisters of Saint Joseph, then was officially bought by Canisius in 2006. The building housed many academic programs, like Digital Media Arts and Theater and Communications, that gave the opportunity for students to perform plays in the Marie Maday Theater and conduct videos in a production lab with equipment like professional film cameras. Additionally, Lyons Hall served as a stepping stone for students who studied arts, and helped them pursue these hobbies and careers through the TV studio, music room and sculpting room. 

That was until Dec. 2022 when a major blizzard hit the building, causing pipes to burst in the third floor and flooding the floors below it. Four years after the incident, Canisius University decided to sell the entire property, including both parking lots (77,000 square feet) for “office work” purposes, according to pyramidbrokerage.com.

Another major change to campus is the relocation of the Health Science building courses, which housed biology and psychology last academic year. Classes like Biology 111 have been moved to Horan O’Donnell. The designated lab for biology has also replaced an old animal behavior ecology and conversation (ABEC) classroom in Science Hall.

Students have delightfully stated they are glad for this big change, and now they don’t have to trudge in the snow every other day to get to class or their labs. A psychology student, who wishes to remain anonymous, says, “It’s better for students this way because now everything is closer to campus and walking to Health Science was not great at all.”

Daunte Briggs, senior ABEC major, agrees with this statement saying, “It’s more convenient to not walk back and forth to Health Science during the winter. Science hall is a nice building to hold these classes anyway.” Overall, people are thrilled with the relocation and will adapt quickly to this change, according to their remarks.

Small, yet impactful changes have also been made on campus. The sidewalk on Jefferson Ave., between Science Hall and main campus, has been widened by approximately 60 inches, which simultaneously gives more space for Canisius students to wait on the side of the road and shortening the road distance.

The Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) has been located where the Griffin Center for Student Success used to be, now sharing the office with the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP). Now making it easier for students to access both of these programs at their convenience.

Other changes are more to come in the future, benefiting more people. These changes, big or small, have impacted students, staff and faculty, positively affecting their academics, and saving their time.