The Board of the University of Turku decided at its meeting on 3 March 2025 that the project planning to transfer the Turun normaalikoulu school from Varissuo to the Educarium building on the University campus will be discontinued.
In its meeting on 10 June 2024, the Board of the University of Turku decided to start the project planning for the transfer of the Turun normaalikoulu school from Varissuo to the Educarium building on campus. The Turun normaalikoulu school is the teacher training school of the University of Turku. The decision was linked to the University's Facility Programme, which is part of the University's Financial Balancing Programme and aims, among other things, to reduce facility costs.
At its meeting on 3 March 2025, the University Board decided that the University will discontinue the project planning and that Rector Marjo Kaartinen will take steps to re-evaluate the Facility Programme and achieve its objectives by other means.
During the project planning phase, it was discovered that transferring the teacher training school to Educarium would not achieve the desired objectives. The project planning also highlighted that the preliminary investigation had not sufficiently identified all the challenges.
The challenges were related to the renovation of the Educarium building and the adequacy and functionality of the facilities. The major changes planned for Educarium were not technically feasible or would have been cost prohibitive. This included the construction of intermediate floors. As the gaps between the floors could not be closed, the facilities would not have met the requirements for school premises. In addition, the sports and club facilities would have been too cramped. In outdoor courtyards, traffic noise levels would have been problematic.
“I think it was really important that this option was thoroughly explored and assessed. The project revealed that, despite our wishes, transferring the teacher training school to Educarium would have required additional practical solutions, which would have reduced the planned savings. We are now actively continuing our facility development and planning together with the University community," says Kaartinen.
The University Board requested that a mid-term evaluation of the facilities is presented at the May Board meeting. The utilisation rates of the facilities and different facility needs will be discussed in detail. In August, the Board will discuss the Facility Programme and new options for facility savings.
Earlier news on the topic:
> University of Turku initiates project planning for transferring operations of Turun normaalikoulu school from Varissuo to campus (news article on 10 June 2024)
