Spoon River College is on the cusp of seeing movement on its proposed new campus in Macomb. The school plans to renovate a former retail building on East Jackson St.
SRC President Curt Oldfield said bids for the project should go out early next year, and be awarded by March. After that, construction can begin.
Most of the work will be indoors, which means weather won’t be a factor and the project can move along quickly once construction begins.
“That’s the beauty of it. Unlike a lot of other construction projects, it’s not weather-dependent. So as soon as they can get electricity in there, they can make rapid progress,” Oldfield said.
He hoped the building will be turned over to the college in early 2025.
Oldfield said the new campus will allow SRC to expand its career and tech programs in Macomb.
“And to be able to have those students who learn with their hands have an opportunity right here in town to learn a skill or a trade that they can move right into the workforce,” he said.
Right now, only the east part of the building has been developed. It’s used as the Spoon River College Community Outreach Center.
Balanced budget for the new school year
SRC’s operating budget has increased slightly for the new school year. But Oldfield said the college also cut spending by about 5%. He said they accomplished that by taking a zero-based budgeting approach this year.
“Budget managers did a phenomenal job of looking at planned expenses and only having those rather than just rolling the budget over from year-to-year. So we were able to reduce expenditures,” he said.
Oldfield said nothing major was removed from the budget. They just cut a bit here and there, such as reducing printing expenses, and that added up.
33% of the college’s revenue comes from property taxes, 50% is from tuition, 11% from the state, and the rest comes from interest earnings and other sources.
The overall budget, which included restricted funds, is about $18 million.
Oldfield said SRC ended last fiscal year with a slight surplus, and the goal is to be even or have another slight surplus at the end of this fiscal year.
He also said SRC anticipates enrollment growth this school year.
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