 |
|
BCC cites positive effects to come from expanded New
Bedford campus
By Joe Cohen
Standard-Times staff writer
 NEW
BEDFORD — Bristol Community College officials said
Tuesday a new, greatly expanded downtown campus would
have a number of positive effects on the city and
surrounding communities.
John J. Sbrega, BCC president, said the college can use
40,000 square feet of new space in addition to the
10,000 square feet it now has in the Star Store building
on Union Street and scattered in nearby locations.
Dr. Sbrega said BCC easily could double its enrollment
from 1,500 to 3,000 students, provide dedicated space
for laboratories and expand non-credit programs that
focus on work-force training and literacy. That will
help support the higher education and work-force
training needs of the city and surrounding communities.
"We're very excited — we can do considerably more if we
have additional space," Dr. Sbrega said.
He said ideally the new space would be within two blocks
of the Star Store building in which BCC now operates and
which students identify as the local campus.
Dr. Sbrega said he has talked with Mayor Scott W. Lang
and Matthew A. Morrissey of the New Bedford Economic
Development Council.
"We are grateful for whatever we can get of usable space
to perform our mission," Dr. Sbrega said.
But he cautioned that BCC will be watching to make
certain it gets a boost in its annual budget to support
the expanded space and role.
Dr. Sbrega said that with additional space, BCC can:
* Work toward increasing the level of education in
SouthCoast, including literacy programs such as adult
basic education, English as another language and helping
people pass the high school equivalency test.
* Enhance the long-term economic development of the
region and boost the work force.
* Provide direct economic benefits. Dr. Sbrega said BCC
currently is estimated to put $90 million into Bristol
County economy through salaries, spending on materials
and in other ways.
Among the locations that would be considered, Dr. Sbrega
said, is the former Keystone Building site, which is now
an empty hole. Last week the city announced it had
reached a deal with a Boston developer to take over the
site and build a five- to seven-story building that
could house retail, offices and college facilities along
with apartments and possible housing for students.
Officials said Tuesday that using the building in part
for BCC is just one possibility and will be considered
along with a range of other development options.
State Sen. Mark C. Montigny, D-New Bedford, announced
Monday he and the local legislative delegation were
supporting state bonding this year for a new campus for
BCC downtown at a cost of up to $10 million. Sen.
Montigny said the new campus can be built new, bought or
leased using an existing building — but it must be in
downtown New Bedford.
Sen. Montigny said he believes a new BCC campus would
help drive another wave of economic development
downtown.
In addition to Sen. Montigny, local legislators
including Reps. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, John
F. Quinn, D-Dartmouth, Robert M. Koczera, D-New Bedford,
and Stephen R. Canessa, D-New Bedford, all worked to
support the expanded BCC campus plan.
Theresa Romanovitch, dean of the BCC New Bedford campus,
said she believes there are a lot of spaces downtown
that could accommodate the expanded school.
"We're so excited that everyone has gotten behind
building a campus for the community," Ms. Romanovitch
said. She said she believes continuing the school's
presence at the Star Store is important both because
students identify with the location and it maintains
BCC's ties to UMass Dartmouth, which has a satellite
program there.
"Colleges bring tremendous growth to downtown areas,"
Mayor Lang said, "not just as an economic development
project, but they build traffic that sustains the
downtown."
In addition, he said, colleges train young people so
they can aspire to higher-paying jobs, and "Economic
development begets other economic development ... and
will help the tax base," Mayor Lang said.
Mr. Morrissey said he looks forward to working with BCC
on its expansion.
"Any $10 million construction project is an important
economic catalyst; beyond construction jobs, permanent
jobs will follow. In addition, the campus will bring
more than a thousand more people downtown each
semester," Mr. Morrissey said.
Contact Joe Cohen at
jcohen@s-t.com
May 07, 2008
Source URL
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NEWS/805070347/1018/ARCHIVE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
