The front door of St. Louis Community College is getting an update.
Construction on the first new campus building in 20 years, the Center for Nursing and Health Sciences, is set to begin in February. The $39 million building—with housing labs, classrooms, and a dental clinic—will span 96,000 square feet over four floors, facing Oakland Avenue.
“It will create an open space, a front door,” says Dr. Jeff Pittman, chancellor of St. Louis Community College. “It’s going to be open, it’s going to be bright. It’s going to be like reintroducing the college to the community.”
The building is a crucial response to the realities of the region’s employment situation, says Pittman.
Based on the 2016 State of St. Louis Workforce Report, Pittman says that the health care sector includes 166,000 jobs in the St. Louis region, representing 12 percent of total employment and clocking in as the second largest regional employment sector. Pittman also cited an 11 percent growth rate in healthcare jobs, with an almost 19 percent vacancy rate for staff nurses in the region.
“We had over 20 community forums,” says Pittman. “We listened to what our community said. They were wanting us to align our offerings toward community needs. We see healthcare as by far the largest need. I believe we are just right on the money in regards to how we’re using our resources to meet the biggest workforce needs in St. Louis. We’re trying to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
Beyond just responding to educational need, Pittman says the new building is an aesthetic update.
“Drive down [Highway] 40 going east—look over at the building,” he says. “What you see is a big wall. You can’t really see anything that’s going on in there. People wonder what it is.”
And it means the demolition of the A and B towers, which has led to some social media grousing.
“There’s always going to be an emotional attachment to buildings,” he says. “There’s people who have been there a long time, there’s historical pieces to this. There’s award-winning architects who built them,” he says, referring to noted mid-century architects Harry and Ben Weese and Dan Kiley.
KAI Design & Build is designing the center, and the project team will be made up of 85 percent women and minority business enterprises.
“The majority of the fourth floor is just white space,” says Pittman. “We’re building it out to expand in the future. It’s not just to meet our current programming, but to expand our current programming and to add new.”
The building is aiming for LEED gold certification. Energy efficiency is cost-effective, as well as green, says Pittman. And the wrap-around bond structure used for financing, he says, should have a minimal impact on the college’s operating budget.
Construction is set to begin in February, and it’s expected to be completed by 2019.
