(The Center Square) – Fifteen Illinois community colleges will receive more than $103 million dollars to make infrastructure improvements.
The funds are part of the state’s Rebuild Illinois capital plan.
“As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the economy of every state in the nation, it is more critical than ever that we continue to invest in the state’s educational institutions so they can continue to provide resources that advance livelihoods and spur the economy,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement.
McHenry County College in Crystal Lake is getting nearly $16 million for a new 52,000-thousand square-foot career, technical and manufacturing center.
President Clint Gabbard said not only will the facility be beneficial to students, but the community will be able to benefit as well.
“We are adding an entrepreneurial center where we will be inviting folks from the community to come in and be able to use high-end equipment as they are developing some of their entrepreneurial business models,” Gabbard said.
Gabbard said he believes community colleges only exist if they are useful to the community.
The largest amount, $42 million, went to Harper College in Palatine for a one-stop admissions and campus student life center and related improvements. Some other schools receiving funds include Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Olney Central College, Spoon River College in Macomb, and Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield.
Dr. Charlotte Warren, president of Lincoln Land Community College, said the funds will help renovate a student services area.
“It will be very nice and welcoming, which is of course is what you need, particularly when you have a lot of first-generation college students and the thought of that is a little scary sometimes,” she said.
As for what the fall semester will look like, Warren said it will be a mixture of remote, online and in-class instruction.
“It is a little bit of everything, trying to keep people safe and at the same time trying to help them move forward,” Warren said.
