The University of Lincoln turns 21 this year, marking a year when the Queen, who opened the Campus in 1996, also celebrates her Platinum Jubilee.
Brayford Pool Campus was a mixture of former railway buildings and a brownfield sites. This had an investment of £150 million to begin the transformation. But the expansion is continuing with last year’s opening of the £21 million medical school.
The Brayford Pool Campus has been open since 1996 but following a rebrand in 2001 it became the University of Lincoln. The university over the past two decades has invested £375 million and has completely changed the Brayford Pool area.
The university has expanded hugely from having only a few thousand students and two buildings, to now with a campus covering 70 acres which is roughly the same as 35 football pitches and around 18,000 students and 1,800 staff.
The impact of the university has been huge for the economy and the community. When the university began, a university newspaper said the “Boost to the county already at £2.5 million.” Professor in Heritage and Identity, Dr Abigail Hunt said: “Building the University follows a pattern of using a deindustrialized city as an education centre. An important question to ask yourself is what this city would be without the university.”
One local business Stokes coffee shop also sees the benefits of having the university in the city. Nikki Barnes, marketing manager from Stokes said: “I think having the university has helped us, it’s brought a lot more young people and made it a lot more vibrant.”