From VIDO director of facilities to a world of possibilities

On weekends, he often swaps his security clearance for a stage appearance, and his workplace for an upright bass.

After 15 years of dealing with the immense responsibility of helping keep the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) facilities running smoothly, and 27 years of leading major projects on campus across the University of Saskatchewan (USask), the opportunity to play in his rockabilly band—Hot Rod Hullabaloo—with his longtime buddies provides the perfect escape and stress relief from his role on campus. Yes, his profession and his passion couldn’t be more different.

“It’s the Yin and Yang of my universe, because they are kind of polar opposites,” said Ewart. “It’s a whole different side of your personality and there was never a day when I was on stage that I thought about work, and I think that is the key. Yes, there was a lot of stress over the years dealing with projects on campus, particularly in the early 2000s, but to get through all that and having the opportunity to switch gears and shut off that part of my brain and play just for fun is pretty amazing.”

Ewart is now in the final months of his time at the university, as he looks forward to retiring later this year, capping a career on campus that began in 1999. But first, he wants to help take VIDO to the finish line in the process to become home to only the second Containment Level 4 (CL4) facility in the country.

“I am kind of envisioning pulling The Simpsons episode where I fade into the bushes,” he said with a smile. “There isn’t a retirement date, per se. I said I would be gone by the end of 2026 and that actually times out well because I started out in November of 1999, so 27 years is right around the end of the year.”

After studying architectural engineering in technical school and going on to work for the federal government and the City of Saskatoon, Ewart joined USask a year before the beginning of the new millennium to serve as the assistant to the architect of the university, and quickly made his mark across campus. Ewart was part of the team that tackled the Spinks Addition to the Thorvaldson Building, a new home for the College of Kinesiology in the Physical Activity Complex, the Chemical Engineering extension to the Engineering Building, expansion of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, and construction and development of VIDO’s advanced facilities that soon became his new home in 2010.

“InterVac (International Vaccine Centre) was probably the most prominent project that I worked on during my time here,” he said. “I was the manager of project development when I left (USask’s Facilities Management Division), but the biggest project was this one. I actually started on the planning of InterVac in 2001, so I have put 25 years into this building. I never envisioned doing the things I was able to do and having the opportunity that I did for as long as I did here. Before the university, the longest I had worked anywhere before was two years and seven months. But, two years and seven months turned into 27 years pretty quickly, I have to admit.”

Ewart said building the VIDO facility proved a massive undertaking, with budget challenges, detailed commissioning challenges, and the extensive safety certification standards required.

“We finished substantial completion in March 2012, we were certified in early 2013, and then we went hot in the fall of 2013 with the first pathogen,” he said.

Overseeing the construction of the state-of-the-art VIDO-InterVac facility from the ground up was the crowning achievement of his career.

“This is definitely the building of record that I am most proud of,” Ewart said. “I look back and I was probably involved in 40-plus projects on campus. But I look at it like a really holistic opportunity that those buildings provide. They are bricks and mortar, but what they also are for people who teach, who learn, and who do research in these buildings is these are all opportunities for students, for staff, for researchers. But this one is special and that’s why I have 25 years put into this place.”

Ewart takes tremendous pride in helping manage a facility whose researchers were on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19 during the pandemic, to researching Hantavirus this year in the CL3 labs, and soon to be exploring therapeutics and vaccines for pathogens like Ebola in the new CL4 facility.

“That is the goal of our organization: we want to make animals healthier and we want to make people healthier, which is the core focus of what this facility was meant to do,” he said. “When the pandemic hit, that was a very unfortunate situation, but to see this facility be used to its full potential and purpose of why it was built, was amazing. It was gratifying to know that this building was doing what it was meant to do.”

Now, Ewart is overseeing the final step in the evolution of VIDO to CL4 capacity, the last chapter in his storybook career on campus and one final memorable milestone before retirement.

“We have finished construction, and right now we are doing commissioning of the facilities, making sure everything works,” Ewart said. “We are upgrading a lot of the infrastructure in the building, so that it is top of the line for the next 10 years. Next, we will be doing a lot of testing over the next while, which is the certification part associated with the project. I want to see this project to the end, so the physical part of it will be done before I leave.”

So what will retirement look like for Ewart? He’s not certain, but it will likely involve a little more time for taking care of his acreage and tinkering with his two pride and joys, his vintage Willys jeeps. He and his partner of 44 years, Nancy Bellegarde, are also big pet lovers with six cats, and will continue their support for organizations like the Saskatoon Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Street Cat Rescue Program.

“We donate time and money to both of those organizations because they do a lot of really valuable work for animals that don’t have a voice,” he said.

Ewart may also look at expanding the parameters of his $1,000 annual music scholarship he sponsors at USask for upright bass/double bass players.

“Because I play the instrument I thought this would be a good opportunity to support students on campus,” he said. “I think if you are devoting your time to a pretty esoteric instrument, to be blunt, if there is any way my small contribution can help, that’s fantastic.”

Retirement will offer a world of possibilities for Ewart, but certainly won’t include a lot of time sitting on the porch.

“My wife has warned me that I won’t be just hanging around the house,” Ewart said with a chuckle. “We live on an acreage, so I haven’t had the time to devote to it as much as I could, so I think that is something I would like to do. I would like to take a few months to chill and do a bit of travelling in the winter and come back with a refreshed spirit in the spring and go from there.”

One thing for certain is that he will always find time to jam with his buddies in the band, as Hot Rod Hullabaloo approaches a quarter century together. They have played everywhere from big international events like Viva Las Vegas in 2008 – the largest rockabilly festival in the world – to local gigs like the Hillbilly Boogie in Kenaston, with a return trip planned for August 2.

“I have played music for just over 50 years, so I have played in bands my entire life, sometimes at the professional level,” said Ewart. “But this band has been the same three guys for 24 years and we have a level of comfort with each other and we enjoy it. We don’t take it too seriously and that is the key, is to make sure you are doing it for all the right reasons.”