Mid Michigan Community College is getting almost $8.9 million from the State of Michigan to build a new building that will help the school consolidate its Mt. Pleasant campuses.
The money will fund a new 95,700-square-foot academic services building on the corner of Broadway and Summerton in Mt. Pleasant, which will house liberal arts programs, business and economic development services, library services, and an academic support center.
That, paired with a student services expansion already underway, will nearly double the space MMCC has in Mt. Pleasant.
MMCC President Carol Churchill says the new campus will help the college meet the needs of an ever-increasing student body.
"This project will unify MMCC's operations in Mt. Pleasant onto one campus while expanding the square footage to meet demand," says Churchill. "The Pickard campus has been operating at an incredibly high capacity for a number of years and no longer meets the needs of our growing student population."
MMCC has been in an unusual position, with two separate locations in Mt. Pleasant about a mile apart. The Pickard campus, bought in 1993, was originally an office building and sits on five acres with no room for expansion. The Herbert D. Doan Center for Science and Health Technologies, was finished in 2008 and is the site of the current student services expansion, which will house offices for enrollment, advising and financial aid.
The new academic services building will be at the Doan Center site as well, consolidating MMCC locations in one spot. When it's complete, the Pickard campus will either be renovated for other uses, or sold, as its current services and classrooms will move to the new campus.
"The unification of MMCC's Mt. Pleasant locations is vital to operating efficiently, serving students effectively, and addressing the workforce development needs of the region," says Churchill.
Mid Michigan Community College also has a campus in Harrison, although more than half of the credit hours taken at the school are taken in Mt. Pleasant.
The state funding has been committed for half the project, with MMCC paying for the other half through savings, bonding and fundraising. Now, the college will begin developing blueprints and other construction documents, planning to seek bids in July.
The building itself is scheduled to be open in January 2013.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Carol Churchill, Mid Michigan Community College
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