Spoon River College will renovate a former retail building on East Jackson St. The college currently occupies about one-third of the structure with its community outreach center.
President Curt Oldfield said designs for the rest of the building have been sent to the state. The project could go out to bid next summer, with construction beginning in the fall.
Oldfield said the anticipated move-in date is July 2024.
“Because of it having a new roof and all four walls that are enclosed, we’ll be able to work year-round without weather issues. That speeds our time to completion up a lot,” he said.
Oldfield is excited about the prospect of expanding the college’s career and tech programs in the community.
“We’ll really be able to expand healthcare and advanced manufacturing programs here in Macomb. We’ll be able to add more welding booths, advanced manufacturing space, and we’ll also be able to add HVAC along with some robotics to be prepared for the future of manufacturing,” Oldfield said.
“It’s really going to be a robust expansion for hands-on learning and career and technical education in the Macomb area.”
The estimated cost of the project is $17-$18 million.
The state is contributing $6 million, and the college has issued $10 million in bonds.
Oldfield said SRC got an interest rate of a bit more than 3% on the bonds last year. He said current bond interest rates are nearly double that.
“The (SRC) board made a wise decision to go into that bond market early to capture those lower interest rates,” he said.
Oldfield said SRC will either fundraise for the rest of the money or scale back the project a bit to bring down the cost.
In addition, SRC could receive money through the state’s Capital Development Board to pay for resurfacing the rest of the parking lot at the site. About one-third of the lot has already been redone.
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