Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman will lay the foundation stone for a campus of women’s colleges in Al-Ula on Monday. The project, which is estimated to cost SR208 million, will accommodate 7,000 students.

Taibah University President Adnan Al-Mazroue thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman for their support for development projects in the Madinah region.

He said contracts have been signed with Al-Murshid Holding, Anwar Al-Khaleej and Babil Maintenance & Operation Co. to carry out the project, which will span an area of 9 million square meters.

Al-Mazroue said the project includes college and administrative buildings, as well as housing for university staff. “The campus is designed to become the headquarters of an independent university in Al-Ula,” he said.

Academic facilities on the campus include the college of arts and human sciences; college of science; community college; and college of applied medical sciences, the president said, adding that the project would be completed within 14 months.

Support facilities on the campus include a conference hall that can accommodate 600 people, a nursery, a restaurant, indoor stadium and a service center, in addition to a drinking water storage tank, workshops and security building.

“We have allocated part of the campus for accommodation. We will construct five buildings to house 900 students,” the president said.

Al-Mazroue said the campus intends to provide an atmosphere to students that is conducive to learning and research. “This atmosphere will be created through advanced infrastructure, academic facilities and electronic services.”

“We want to make extensive use of electronic systems to speed up activities,” he said.

He thanked Prince Faisal for his support to Taibah and described him as a man of strategic vision with enthusiasm and unlimited ambition. He also thanked Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari for his support.