Students at Lambton College will be getting a new sports center sooner than expected.

Lambton College is combining both the health and athletics complex into one building.

The college is in the middle of a $45 million fundraising campaign to build a Health  and Research Centre and an Athletics and Fitness Complex. The original plan was to build the project in phases, but college President Judy Morris now says two centers will be in one building. Construction will start next September.

“We have a great opportunity to construct both the Health and Research and the Athletics and Fitness Centre together,” Morris recently told Lambton County Council.

While they will be distinct centers the new design merges them together achieving “great efficiencies because were sharing those four walls and things such as elevators.

“The centers will be married or co-located on the east side of the college.”

The 100,000 square foot complex will include a gymnasium and fitness center, research laboratory space, a dedicated area for the nursing program and massage therapy. The greenhouse complex will have to be moved to accommodate the addition.

While she was at the county building, Morris and Lambton County Warden Bev MacDougall signed a formal agreement committing the county to provide $5 million for the project. That commitment was followed by grants of $10 million from both the federal and provincial government. Nova Chemicals has also kicked in $2 million – the health and research center will be named after the company.

The Athletics and Fitness Centre will be paid with past and present student fees.

Morris says the college will have students in the new building by September 2018.