The Iowa Central Bond

You’ve heard the old saying, ‘some things never change’ and it’s true often enough, but some things do change, and that’s Iowa Central Community College.

Iowa Central will implement its master campus plan since the passage of the $18 million bond referendum in June.  The college and Brian Clark and Associates are working on a timeline for projects and the final designs.

The core campus will include the Bio-Science Health Science Center, the geothermal pond, pedestrian plaza and the Learning Resource Center.

Clark and Associates is also helping re-analyze the college parking needs, which continues to be a challenge for our campus.

Although transparent to the general public, a lot has happened since the bond was approved.  Among these are:

McClure Engineering has submitted the new entryway design to the Iowa Department of Transportation for final approval.  The roadway will lead from U.S. Highway 169 on the west side of campus to the new central core campus area.  It will include a new intersection along Highway 169 featuring turning lanes and traffic lights.

The new Bio Science Health Science project has been LEED registered with the Iowa Green Building Council.  There are only eight LEED private and state college projects in Iowa.  Bergland and Cram architects are close to having laboratory design work finalized.  When finalized, you will be able to view the building on our website.

Mid American Energy, through its Commercial New Construction Program, has contracted the services of Weidt Group to work with the College and architects to identify and model energy saving strategies for the new Bio-Science Health Science Building.  This will result in significant energy savings to the College and will also offer benefits to the students.

Once the College receives approval from the city on its site plan review, grading and utility work will begin.  Construction for both the building and entryway are slated to begin Spring 2008.

Preliminary discussions of needs relative to the design of the Learning Resource Center will begin soon with a target construction date of Fall 2008.

On a related note, Iowa Central’s Board of Trustees has approved the issuance of dormitory revenue bonds for the construction of three new student apartment buildings.

 “With our numbers expected to increase to around 6,000 students this year, we felt the administration needed to go to the board with this request,” said Tom Beneke, Vice-President of Enrollment Management and Student Development.

Work will begin immediately on clearing the way for the three new student apartment buildings west of the Iowa Central softball field and north of the planned new entrance road.  Construction of these new apartments by Fall 2008, will bring the number of students living in College owned residences on campus to 855.

Exciting things are happening at Iowa Central, and I want to extend an invitation to everyone to come onto campus and watch our progress.