The Spoon River College Board of Trustees agreed to move ahead with the complete buildout of the school's campus on Macomb's east side.
College President Curt Oldfield said the entire project should cost $16-$17 million.
He said SRC received a roughly $6.2 million Rebuild Illinois grant, which the college matched with $2 million, to pay for renovating portions of the building for its nursing and career & technical education programs.
He said the board decided it would be most efficient and effective to also complete renovations to the rest of the building and get all of the college’s Macomb-based programs under one roof.
“The board still has the bonding authority to build or make improvements, and has the debt structure to be able to absorb it to have a minimal impact on property tax payers,” Oldfield said.
“This project has been in the plans for a while so we’ve tried to structure our debt so it has next to no impact on the property owners within the college district.”
Oldfield said architects expect to have drawings for the East Jackson Street campus completed by spring. Construction could begin next fall, and the new campus could open for classes in the fall of 2023.
“With the building being completely enclosed, the contractors will be able to work year-round and not have weather delays,” Oldfield said.
SRC bought the building for $1.6 million in 2006. It had been a retail center that included the Heilig-Meyers furniture store.
The building will provide SRC with considerably more space than it has at its current Macomb campus on South Johnson Street near the downtown.
To date, SRC has only renovated the far east end of the Jackson Street building. That section of the building houses the SRC Community Outreach Center, which opened in 2009.
The district hoped the state would pay for renovating the entire building but the state’s fiscal challenges made that unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Oldfield said the South Johnson Street building is in good shape. He believes the building, which was previously the high school, has potential for redevelopment.
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