May 28, 2009 10:30 pm
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By Janet Jacobs
Daily Sun
The Navarro College Board of Trustees voted Thursday in a special meeting to sell $4 million in revenue bonds to build a new classroom building on the Midlothian campus.
The money will be combined with a $1.5 million grant from the Corporation for Economic Development of Midlothian and $500,000 from the City of Midlothian to help pay for a $6 million project, according to Dr. Richard Sanchez, college president.
“It will be for classroom space and faculty offices,” Sanchez said. “Right now, we have 975 (students) without dual credit and the Texas A&M Commerce program.”
The first building, located at 899 Mt. Zion Road, was designed to accommodate 800 students, he pointed out. “And we have the same partnership with A&M Commerce in Midlothian and that program has 250 students, so with our students and their students, that building is way over capacity.”
The new building will be 25,000 square feet, and capable of accommodating 1,000 students. It is the second in a four-phase building program planned for Midlothian.
The advantages of having twice the classroom space in Midlothian is worth the $1.5 million in economic development, according to Frank Viso, executive director of the corporation.
“We think it’s a tremendous impact to our community to have Navarro College here in Midlothian,” Viso said. “We’re following up on our original commitment to make that into a sizable campus.”
In addition to providing a local higher education outlet for local workers, the campus also keeps college-bound kids near home, and provides a better-qualified and upwardly mobile workforce, Viso said.
“The higher education component changes every community, in my opinion,” he said. “Raising the level of education in the community you can’t go wrong. That’s worth a lot to us.”
On May 21, the board of trustees approved sending out a request for qualifications to find an architect for the building. Sanchez has said he wants construction to begin this fall, with the new building available by Fall 2010.
The third and fourth phases are similar classroom buildings, expected to be needed in 2015 and 2020, respectively. The first Navarro College building in Midlothian opened in January 2006. It was built with $4.75 million in Midlothian city revenue bonds.
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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com
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