By Kaitlyn Freese
IV Leader Staff, Sept. 23, 2010
What was once only an intriguing plan for the distant future is now a reality that is right around the corner for IVCC students and staff alike.
According to IVCC President Jerry Corcoran, the Community Technology Center (or CTC)—a $30 million dollar, 76,000 square foot addition to the IVCC campus—will break ground sometime in the summer of 2011.
Over $22 million dollars of the cost is being funded through the state, while IVCC is picking up the remaining tab of around $7 million.
This new building will replace many of the “temporary” buildings on campus, some of which are 40+ years old.
Technical programs that will be housed in the CTC are Electronics, HVAC, CAD, CNC, Networking and Computer Repair, and Wind Energy Maintenance.
The center will also become the new home for Adult Education, Continuing Education, Career Services, Student Support Services, Financial Aid, Admissions and Records, Cashier, Project Success, and the Counseling Center.
With many of these offices moved, their current locations will be put to new uses. For example, Corcoran says that the area which is now the Counseling Center will become student life space.
The Community Technology Center will be two floors and is intended to complement the existing design of the current campus, while also providing a distinctly new front door to the campus.
One important goal of the project is to engage many sustainable and “green” design approaches as possible, which includes many new landscaping plans.
Because of the nature of the programs that will be housed in the new building, many renewable energy technologies will be implemented not only as functional pieces of the building, but also for demonstration purposes.
In addition, once the project is completed Parking Lot No. 7 will be within 50 feet of the building to allow students ideal parking.
The college staff has been told by planners to expect to be able to move into the new building in January of 2013, according to Corcoran.
Corcoran says that he and the board of trustees are rather excited about this upcoming project and its implications on the future of IVCC students.
He believes that the Community Technology Center will provide “a first-class teaching and learning facility that complements our award-winning faculty and dedicated staff.”
The enthusiasm the Board has for this undertaking also sends a clear message to the community about the goals of the college, says Corcoran. Employers in the area can see that by going forward with this project, IVCC is committed to giving its students the best education they can.
In doing so, they are also training the future workforce and giving them skills that they will be able to use to contribute to and be a successful part of our community.
Corcoran believes that the bond between IVCC and its local communities, just as between all smaller colleges and their surrounding communities, must have been what the Truman Commission on Higher Education imagined in 1947 when it recommended that “junior” colleges change their names to “community” colleges.