EUGENE (KMTR) – Lane Community College will break ground tomorrow morning as they begin construction on their downtown campus.
Plans have been underway for about two years now for the proposed buildings on the corner of 10th and Charnelton.
The project includes a 90,000-square-feet academic building with classrooms and laboratories and an 87,000-square-feet residence hall with five floors of apartment units. It will also have meeting rooms and a campus store. The entire building will be environmentally and eco-friendly as it is LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Platinum certified.
Lane Community College currently educates about 36,000 students and is constantly growing. A number of programs will be hosted through the downtown campus rather than on the main campus, allowing easier access to schooling for many. LCC’s President Mary Spilde says it will also be beneficial not only to fill the space downtown, but to bring about 250 new residents to such a bustling area.
Businesses near the area seem to be on board with the project. One concern that Hutch’s Bicycles expressed to News Source 16 was the parking issue. Many people who work downtown already take up a number of metered spaces, not allowing paying customers to have direct parking near the shop. However Spilde says there are more than 700 parking spots that will be provided by the city near Broadway Place. In addition, all LCC students are given a bus pas, which the college encourages them to use.
Other issues about the new building included the budget. The economy has taken a toll on everyone, public and community colleges included. Lane Community College’s website and administrators broke down the $53,456,000 dollar project:
-$9 million dollars from a 2008 voter-approved Lane Community College bond
-$8 million dollars from the state of Oregon
-$8 million dollars from the city of Eugene
-$8 million dollars in Congressional Appropriation in energy management
-$550 million dollars from net New Market Tax Credits
-$5 million dollars from a campus-based Enterprise Fund
-$2.5 million dollars in Sustainability Incentives & Other Funds
-Additional funding from bond sales
Also, the investment that will be reimbursed through the housing will be about $19,355,000 dollars.
Currently, LCC has about $47 million dollars of the total $53 million, meaning they are experiencing a $5 million dollar gap. Once more state bonds are approved and sold, the college hopes to fill that gap. They also have a “plan-B,” which they did not expand on.
Out-of-pocket expenses by LCC are the first listed – the $9 million dollars – which would have been spent anyways. According to Spilde, the current downtown campus building is not suitable. The money would have had to renovate that building. LCC, however, would prefer to invest in something totally new and beneficial to all community members, like the new proposed project.
LCC does not want to vacate and abandon the current campus facility. They plan to use that building as a business “incubator” for producers who want to transition into commercial space.
The themed project (“Building It Together”) is expected to be completed by fall 2012.
LCC’s groundbreaking event will take place Friday, March 4th at 10:30am at the Eugene Public Library. Dirt-tossing will happen at 11:15 across the street and a reception will take place afterwards in the Atrium Building lobby.
Spilde will be in attendance as well as Lane Board of Education Chair Tony McCown and Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy.
