NORMAL - Heartland Community College is considering a $60 million expansion plan that would almost double the campus's size by 2010.

Officials on Friday laid out an aggressive timeline for erecting five new buildings, renovating several existing facilities on the 7-year-old campus, creating three athletic fields and adding 500 to 600 parking spaces. The new buildings would be a student center, fitness center, classroom building, multipurpose auditorium/business conference center, child-care center and receiving building.

Bidding the project all at once could realize a 3 percent cost savings, said Randy West of BLDD architects.

Heartland leaders say the project could be funded by increasing local property tax rates about 3.5 cents per $100 equalized assessed valuation. The College's tax rate now is 40.5 cents per $100 EAV, which remains under the state average for community college district rates, officials said.

Allan Saaf, Heartland vice president of instruction, told trustees gathered for the board's annual planning retreat Friday that the campus likely will see enrollment grow 50 percent by 2015.

That would put credit enrollment close to 8,000 students. Several thousand more would be taking noncredit courses.

In his presentation, Saaf showed data comparing community college districts' populations.

Without the expansion, Saaf envisions a crowded campus in a few years, reminding him of Heartland's situation a decade ago. The Heartland district, founded in 1990, was based in leased buildings in Towanda Plaza in Bloomington until the current campus opened in 2000.

"Nine years ago, we were desperately looking for places to teach classes," he said.

Administrators called the plans to add the extracurricular buildings a move to make Heartland a mature community college, like others in the state.

The campus on Raab Road in Normal, lacks the array of facilities most other campuses have, said Jon Astroth, college president.

"Ninety-two percent of community colleges in the state have a gymnasium; 90 percent have a theater with an auditorium. Why do these schools provide those things for their students?" said Astroth.

For people who would oppose the plan, Astroth said he would ask "Instead of why, why not?"

"I believe Heartland and other community college students deserve everything that others in higher education get," he said.

Research repeatedly shows student success is tied to more than the classroom experience, he said. And this community's students deserve a quality education experience, he said.

Seeing a dim outlook for state funding, Rob Widmer, Heartland's business and finance chief, said the money for the $60 million project would need to be raised elsewhere.

The state government hasn't funded a capital project at an Illinois community college in three years, Widmer said. And, Heartland's state aid request for a student center sits 55th on a list of 56 priorities for such capital projects, he said.

"There's $565 million worth of projects in front of us," he said.

Noting the state funding Heartland already has received for its campus, especially the $23 million Workforce Development Center now under construction, Widmer said: "We've probably tapped into that well as much as we are going to tap into it for quite some time."

That leaves Heartland with levying a property tax increase for bonds, he said.

In Heartland's 16-year history, it's tax rate has been relatively level, he said. Compared to Illinois' other community colleges, Heartland has maintained one of the lowest tax rates, he said.

The board's retreat followed a breakfast with legislators and a group tour of continuing interior work at the Workforce Development Center.

The building should be ready for Heartland on May 1, with a grand opening planned for August.

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Heartland plans

Heartland Community College leaders proposed on Friday an extensive campus expansion that's expected to cost nearly $60 million and be completed over the next three years. Here are some details:

Funding

Local Funding: Suggested tax rate increase of 3.5 cents per $100 equalized assessed valuation. For the owner of a $175,000 home, that would translate to approximately $20 a year.

State Funding: None. Heartland officials say the state hasn't funded a community college capital project in three years.

Project Est. cost Size (sq. ft.)

Fall 2007/spring 2008

Site prep work $2.75 million

Fall 2008

Outdoor

athletic complex $3.6 million 9,000

Receiving facility $2 million 9,100

Child-care center $5.57 million 19,600

Fall 2009

Student center $12.24 million 43,400

Remodeling of

Student Commons $1 million N/A

Classroom building $11.24 million 39,600

Remodeling

Classrooms $440,000 N/A

Auditorium/

conference center $8.52 million 29,100

Spring 2010

Fitness center $12.25 million 43,700

Total: $59.6 million* 193,500

Extras and discounts

- Bidding all of the work as a package could save about 3 percent of the total cost.

- Building one or two wind turbines to generate electricity could cost $3.4 million each.

SOURCES: Heartland Community College, BLDD architects

Compiled by Michele Steinbacher