Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic are celebrating the opening of their new Centre for Research and Innovation today on the west coast.

Todd Hennessey, the former Dean of the School of Fine Arts at MUN, is the faculty lead for the new facility.

Hennessey says the project was started several years ago when the idea of creating a “maker space” in Corner Brook came up.

They contacted Corner Brook Pulp and Paper about using a former HR building across the street from the mill that had been vacant for decades, to which the company quickly hopped on board.

Hennessey describes the facility as a co-working space that has a suite of digital tools, as well as things like wood and metal working tools.

He says the building won’t just be for MUN and CNA, as they envisioned it from the beginning as a community space.

He calls the technology being used as empowering. He says they’re thinking about offering training courses where, for example, a person could learn how to design something and print it on a 3D printer.