Key legislators and Anoka-Ramsey
Community College administrators met
Sept. 24-25 on the college's Cambridge
campus to review the capital funding
request made by the college. The request
includes plans to demolish two 20-year-old,
pole-constructed buildings and replace
them with an addition to the Campus Center,
just east of county road 70.
The legislators who attended the event
included Representative Rob Eastlund;
Senator Dennis R. Frederickson; Representative
Jim Knoblach, Chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee; Senator Keith Lanseth,
Chairman of the Capital Investment Committee;
Senator Sean Nienow; and Senator Sandy
Pappas.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College's Cambridge
campus capital project has been approved
by the Office of the Chancellor and the
Board of Trustees (for the Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities System).
This visit is the beginning of the next
step in the process - approval by the
Legislature. The college will receive
an answer on its request at the end of
the next legislative session, Spring
2004.
College President Patrick Johns presented
an historic overview of the Cambridge
campus that has led to the need for demolition
of the old buildings and an addition
to the Campus Center.
"As our curriculum changes, so
does the infrastructure, like computer
labs with Internet access," says
Johns. "Additionally, there are
real health and safety concerns with
these building (the 20-year-old, pole
constructed buildings). The maintenance
alone will cost much more than the value
of the building."
Johns provided the legislators with
an overview of Anoka-Ramsey Community
College's plans to construct new space
- an addition to the Campus Center building
- that would be a one-to-one replacement
of the old space. The new construction
will allow the college to maintain its
current capacity level for the growing
six-county area that includes Chisago,
Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine, and
Sherburne. |
