Heartland Community College unveiled the first floor of its new student center on Thursday.
The college is renovating the building that houses the Workforce Development Center into the new student center. The project is expected to be completed in two years.
Some departments that were already in the building, such as IT or counseling, will be moved to new locations to make room within the student center.
“This is only the first part of it, but within the next two years this whole facility will be renovated,” said Keith Cornille, president of Heartland Community College. “It will be a place where they can go to get services, for admissions, for advising, for counseling, for mental health issues that they may need.”
It also includes food options and a career center.
The now completed first floor cost $4.4 million. An additional $35.3 million in funds were approved by Heartland’s board of trustees to be borrowed through general obligation fund certificates. That money will be put toward deferred maintenance and other elements of HCC's facilities master plan.
“This project overall will probably be in the neighborhood of $8 to $10 million when it's all said and done, and probably a little more than that when you consider that we have to build out some other spaces to move things out to,” said Cornille. “But we're using existing space, and we're renovating it, which is more cost effective for us as opposed to building new spaces.”
Cornille thanked the many students who gave feedback to the college on the need for a space that will serve as a hub for a wide range of student needs, adding it was one of the first needs students identified for the campus when he started with Heartland in July 2018.
The event was well attended by students, especially student-athletes.
“I bet many of you are thinking right now, a student's just somebody who comes to class, you take a couple exams, do some homework, and then you walk across the stage eventually and get a diploma,” said Auston Koch, Heartland student trustee and a soccer player, addressing the crowd of students at the ceremony.
“But it's also eating Subway with your friends, it's being part of a club, it's meeting new people.”
