Christine’s Top 7 Tour Stops

1. Alumni Hall

You’ll spend a lot of time in Alumni Hall during your first year at King’s!

Alumni Hall is where all of our Foundation Year Program lectures take place. It’s a beautiful large lecture hall and I especially love the vibe of the students eager to hear from their favourite professors. Fun fact: No one can agree on the colour of the walls. Dusty Rose? Salmon? You’ll have to see and decide for yourself.

2. Bookstore

Not only is the King’s Co-op Bookstore a great place to stock up on supplies, swag and the books you’ll need throughout the school year, it’s a great place to work as a student!

The King’s Co-op Bookstore is one of three student-owned and managed businesses on campus. It’s in the basement of the New Academic Building, directly below Alumni Hall. The bookstore sells all the course books you’ll need for King’s classes—a lot ofreally cool books—plus merch, fiction and non-fiction books beyond required course readings (yes, we still have time to read for pleasure). It also has its own podcast called Bookings.

3. Wardy & Galley

The Wardroom is a great place to study, have a meeting, or relax with a game of pool.

The Galley and the Wardroom are two entities in one shared space. At the south end is a nook called The Galley, where you can grab an affordable and delicious coffee and grilled cheese in the day, and at the north end of the room is the Wardroom’s (affectionately known as the Wardy) bar where you can meet friends for a beer and a chat in the evenings. The space has a unique wet/dry license; during the day it’s an all-ages hang-out, and at night it’s a licensed for the 19+ crowd. On weeknights, the Wardy is home to trivia nights, live music events and dance parties. Like the Bookstore, both spaces are student-managed and student-staffed. Say hi to your fellow classmates behind the counter or bar, consider applying to work alongside them and don’t forget to leave a tip.

4. Chapel

The Chapel is home to a lively community that welcomes students of all faiths or none.

At just five acres, King’s campus is compact. The walk from the Arts and Administration Building to King’s Chapel takes less than 30 seconds, and no matter what the weather is like outside, when your destination is the Chapel you know it will be warm and cozy inside. The Chapel functions as a working Anglican church but it, and King’s Chaplain, also welcome students of all faiths or none. It also hosts community volunteer programs like YouthNet tutoring, open mic nights (this place has amazing acoustics), and wilderness retreats and hikes.

Super cool fact for my fellow history nerds, the King’s Chapel originated on our first Canadian campus in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and was rebuilt when we moved up to Halifax after a fire that destroyed campus.

5. Library

Ask anyone where is the best place on campus to get a lot done in a short amount of time and odds are they’ll point you to the library. Looked at from the outside, you might assume it’s the oldest building on campus, but it’s actually the second newest—it was just designed to integrate with the overall ‘look’ of campus. Inside, it’sa great place to read, study and do group work amongstan impressive collection of books, art and archival materials. Outside, the front steps are where a yearly event known as Classics in the Quad takes place; students in King’s Theatrical Society put on an ancient Greek or Roman Play for fellow students, faculty and members of the community.

Students draw on the tragedies they study in the Foundation Year Program to perform a piece of Greek theatre for the annual Classics in the Quad performance.

6. Bays

Check out the statue over the door of Middle Bay, showing Aeneas fleeing Troy, taking his father, his son and the household gods with him.

Here’s something that surprises a lot of people—most buildings on campus are residences. Besides our largest residence building, Alexandra Hall, residences around here are called Bays, and they house first- and upper-year students during their time at King’s. Their names are a mixture of ironic and honorary: Chapel Bay is actually as far from Chapel as it gets, Radical Bay used to house the theology students on campus, and Middle Bay is between those two. Then there’s North Pole Bay which was built over the boiler room—formerly the hottest place on campus. Finally, Cochrane Bay, right next to the chapel, is named for a former King’s President. Which would you like to call home?

7. Gym

The Muir gym is home to King’s varsity athletics program, with basketball, volleyball and badminton games being played at ‘the Kingdome.’

A bit of a hidden gem on King’s campus is our gym, Muir Gym, home to the UKC Blue Devils varsity athletics teams. Students have access to a weight and cardio room, as well as a spacious and beautiful springform dance studio.

I absolutely recommend checking out this space during your time at King’s. It’s like having your own private gym, that you use with friends. Fun fact—the King’s Gym is open to King’s students only, but you also have access to Dal’s gym! So many fun ways are available to move your body and get physical.

So those are my favourite spots to show off on our campus tours. Did I pique your interest? I hope I was able to show you why King’s is such a unique and special university. Any of our Recruitment Officers would be happy to answer any questions you may have or help you navigate your next steps in applying to King’s. Who knows, maybe you’ll be showing us your favourite spots on campus next year!