Gateway Announces Site for Urban Campus in Covington
, - May 22, 2009
Gateway Community and Technical College announced today that it has formed a unique partnership with the Kenton County Public Library and the Covington Independent Public School System (CIPS) to create the college’s new Urban Campus in the heart of Covington. The new Urban Campus will be comprised of a new facility planned for occupancy in 2014 and the use of Two Rivers Middle School that is slated for closing later this summer.
GCTC President Ed Hughes announced that the college had reached an agreement in principle with the library to explore a joint project to construct a new building adjacent to the library. The plan envisions that the two buildings would be connected via doors and walkways with both organizations using shared spaces.
Gateway has promoted a new urban campus building in the Kentucky General Assembly for several years. The 2008 Legislature authorized $21.3 million for construction in a “contingency budget” should the state’s revenues exceed expenses. With the recent downturn in the economy, that funding is not likely to occur but area legislators have continued to push for funding for the campus.
The library is planning a major renovation project in the next several years, and the opportunity to collaborate with the college offered benefits to both organizations, according to Dave Schroeder, Library Director.
“When we began thinking about our renovations plans and the college’s building plans, we discovered that we would be building between 14,000 and 18,000 square feet of space that the college was going to build. We agreed that we should pursue a joint plan that would save approximately several million dollars in construction costs,” Schroeder said.
According to college officials, both organizations were planning to build community meeting rooms, computer labs, classrooms and programming space, common areas including bathrooms, and a new entrance for the library.
For Gateway, the closeness of a major library was critical to the site selection. “Access to a library for our students is crucial to our success as a college.” noted Hughes. “Being physically connected to the library offers outstanding new opportunities for our students and the college’s facilities will benefit library patrons too.”
Hughes also announced that the college had agreed in principle with the CIPS to secure use of the Two Rivers Middle School that will be closed at the end of the current school year. The school is across the street from the Kenton County Public Library. No decision has been made on when Gateway operations might begin at that location but it could occur as soon as the fall term.
According to Lynda Jackson, CIPS Superintendent, the partnership was a “win-win” for the school district and college. “We are moving the middle school to the Holmes High School Campus this summer, and we were concerned that the middle school would be vacant. Having Gateway at that site will mean the building will continue to be used to educate residents of our urban core.”
Jackson noted that the school district has plans to move the Alternative School from space it leases to the Two Rivers School as part of the agreement, at least for several years. The move is expected to save the district over $160,000 per year.
Hughes stated that Gateway intends on moving its urban center and adult education program from a facility that it leases from CIPS at Levassor Street to Two Rivers. It would also move credit classes it now offers in the evenings at Holmes High School for area residents. “We are out of space at Holmes and Levassor, and, with 36 classrooms available at Two Rivers, we can expand our offerings almost immediately and educate even more residents while we wait for funding for the new facility,” said Hughes.
GCTC Board Chairman, Rick Jordan, said that the college’s board has been looking for over two years for a Covington site to replace its aging facility on Amsterdam Road.
“We looked at a number of possible sites and analyzed them against our criteria. This site is in the heart of Covington, on a major TANK bus route, has access to parking in nearby city owned parking structures, is close to restaurants that offer food to students, and has access to a library. We asked Dr. Hughes to pursue this site and its potential partnerships as our preferred site for the Urban Campus. We are delighted with this site,” Jordan added.
The Kentucky General Assembly authorized the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to transfer Gateway’s Amsterdam Road Campus to the GCTC Foundation with the proceeds from its sale to assist the college with building the new urban campus. Foundation Chairman Lee Flischel acknowledged that it is in early negotiations with KCTCS to initiate the transfer. “We hope to complete that action this summer and be able to market the 25-acre site that overlooks Covington and the Ohio River to a developer by the end of the year. We are committed to raising additional funds to support the new urban campus; those funds would provide for building needs, operations and scholarships,” Flischel said.
Covington Mayor Denny Bowman praised the collaboration and pledged the city’s cooperation and advocacy to the project. He noted that the new urban campus site is very near the planned Times Star Commons, the wedding district and the arts district. “Having a college in our city at that location will bring students to the area and new customers to our city’s businesses. This is a project that will transform our community,” the mayor said.
According to Hughes, the new Urban Campus, when completed, will serve at least 2500 new students who now are not able to attend college because of transportation issues, child care issues or convenience. “Based on our experience with the former Urban Learning Center, if we offer college classes in a location that is convenient to home and work, people will start and complete a college program of study. We anticipate that this location will be that starting place for many residents in the urban communities of Northern Kentucky.”
In the 1960s, the University of Kentucky operated extension centers in many communities throughout the Commonwealth. Many of those centers later became community colleges which are now part of KCTCS. “The irony is that the UK extension center in Northern Kentucky operated in the Two Rivers School during the evenings. It looks like we are bringing a community college back to the urban center in the same place it was 50 years ago. Who says ‘Back to the Future’ was just a movie!” Hughes said. |
