She was joined by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work Derek Mackay, and they were welcomed by Senior vice-principal Professor Neal Juster and Ann Allen, executive director of Estates and Commercial Services.
The Learning and Teaching Hub will provide extensive new learning, study and teaching places and is due to open for the 2019-2020 academic session. The project is supporting an extra 2,500 jobs and will add an extra £130 million to the local economy.
The First Minister said: “I was delighted to visit the University of Glasgow to see the ambitious and impressive work being undertaken as part of the £1 billion commitment to redeveloping the campus in the west end of the city – a major investment which is a welcome demonstration of confidence in the Scottish economy, amidst an improving economic picture.
“The project will not only create a lasting legacy for future students and researchers, solidifying the Glasgow’s place as one of the top universities in the world – but will also provide a significant economic boost to the city in both the short and long term, helping the university to build on its reputation as a leader in research and innovation and helping equip the local and national economy with the skills we need to thrive in the years to come.”
Mr Mackay also paid tribute to the redevelopment of the campus. He said: “The scale of the ambition as well as of the investment here at the University of Glasgow is really impressive and will take this world leading university forward, delivering for students, for staff and for the wider community as well as linking in with business and industry.”
Professor Juster emphasised the scale of campus redevelopment, which is one of the biggest educational infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history. He said: “As a world leading and world changing university is it vitally important that we provide the best facilities for our staff, students and researchers.
“We are also creating an innovation zone that will encourage spin out companies, attract partner business, create high value and sustainable jobs and enable us to broaden and deepen our links with industry at all levels. We see the development of the campus as a catalyst for a huge amount of positive economic activity.
“But it will also be opened up for the use and benefit of the west end community and the wider city of Glasgow. That is key to what we want to achieve.
“We were very pleased to welcome First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary and delighted to share with them some of our thoughts and the vision that we have for the future.”
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