State Legislatures Gives Final Funding Approval For Multi-Million-Dollar NMC Project

Thursday was an exciting day for Northwestern Michigan College after state legislatures approved funding for their multi-million-dollar project.

Thursday, legislatures approved the FY 18 Omnibus Budget which includes the final funds the college needs for a long-awaited $14 million transformation to their West Hall.

Half of the funds are coming from the state the other half from the college.

9&10’s Megan Woods has details on the project and the difference it will make on campus.

“It definitely transforms NMC to give us a building that renovates a 1960 building into the 21st Century.”

A multi-million dollar project approval years in the making to improve west hall.

Vicki Cook, NMC’s Vice President of Finances and Administration says, “We’ve been working on this project well over five years through our capital outlay through the state submit a project t that the state will consider and help fund so half of this project will be funded by the state and the other half is funded through NMC.”

But this project doesn’t just improve the hall it transforms it into NMC’s building of the future.

Cook says, “It’s a renovation of older building West Hall which houses both our bookstore and food service, but also our current activity center. This space will have 29 new active classrooms, small and large that can be transformed for students to create different learning spaces.”

Not only that, NMC will pay for a new $6 million library to connect to the hall.

But it’s the new-level of technology for students that will truly make this building innovative.

Dr. Terri Gustafson as the college’s director of educational media technology it’s her job to implement the technology into the classroom, she says, “Right now while we do have some active learning classrooms we certainly don’t have anything that would be the breadth of technology that we’ll have with this building and really offer students the kind of interactions and experiences that they’re going to need."

Governor Snyder is expected to sign the bill soon.

From there the college will move towards finalizing project design, development and budget to start construction April 2018.