Ivy Tech has announced that they will pursue locating their New Castle campus at the former GM dealership property on Indiana 3 south of New Castle. (David Burns / C-T Photo
Touted as a "win-win" situation for Henry County, Ivy Tech Community College now wants to locate its new campus along Ind. 3 on a property that once housed a car dealership.
The announcement, which came on Wednesday night during a Henry County Commissioners meeting, ends months of speculation and debate over where Ivy Tech should puts its campus here.
During the meeting, Gail Chesterfield, chancellor for Ivy Tech's East Central Region, described positives and negatives of all of the locations the college considered in the county.
But she said the vacant car dealership at 3325 S. Ind. 3, near Walmart, had the right amount of parking, the right amount of space for expansion, good visibility and an opportunity to lure students from Rush County and Hancock County.
"We feel like it has the potential to be a great gateway facility," she said.
Because the property is located on the south side of New Castle, Chesterfield said it will allow the college to expand its reach to other counties. Residents of northern Henry County often go to Ivy Tech locations in Muncie and Anderson, Chesterfield said.
The vacant dealership property is about four acres and the building is about 14,000 square feet. Chesterfield said on Wednesday that Ivy Tech currently serves about 300 students in Henry County. With this new campus, that number could grow to more than 1,000, she said.
Chesterfield said the school hopes to have the new campus in Henry County open for fall 2012.
County and Ivy Tech officials haven't determined how much it will cost to turn the vacant dealership into a college building. However, architectural designs are in the works. And more details of Ivy Tech's plan will be discussed during Wednesday's Henry County Council meeting.
During that meeting, Ivy Tech was originally scheduled to present its choice for its new location. Because of scheduling conflicts, the announcement got moved up on Wednesday afternoon to the commissioners meeting on Wednesday night.
Ivy Tech's plans are coming to a head now because they're dependent on food and beverage tax revenue, which the county is getting ready to disburse.
The college's choice for a location has been long awaited and a topic of much controversy. In May, with the help of city officials, Ivy Tech announced that it was looking to locate its campus in downtown New Castle.
However, then, officials weren't aware of the food and beverage tax money, and that plan fell apart because of a lack of finances. City officials then asked the New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corp. to work with Ivy Tech on the project.
Soon after, county officials learned that there was about $1.8 million in food and beverage tax revenue that could be spent on the Ivy Tech campus. And the campaign for a new campus was rejuvenated.
In August, Ivy Tech and county officials began looking at a vacant factory building on Road 300 South. As they began to seriously consider the building for the campus, another business supposedly bought the property.
And suddenly, Ivy Tech was looking for a new location again. Some officials urged the college to reconsider the downtown. Others urged it to go along North Memorial Drive or at the Interstate 70 and Ind. 3 interchange.
And many county officials, including Henry County Council members who will ultimately decide if the project gets food and beverage tax revenue, said they would support any location that Ivy Tech wanted.
And now without question, the college's current choice is the former car dealership property.
Jeff Hancock, a County Council member, was on an advisory committee working on the Ivy Tech project. On Thursday, Hancock said for him, the location choice came down to giving the college what it wants. Hancock said Henry County officials don't want to lose Ivy Tech to Hancock County or Rush County.
Hancock said the dealership property provides Ivy Tech room for growth and accessibility. The location will also draw students from other areas, he said.
"This property was to me a win-win for Ivy Tech, a win-win for New Castle ... and a win-win for the county," Hancock said.
In a phone interview, New Castle Mayor Jim Small said if Ivy Tech won't go downtown, the dealership is the best of the other options.
But Small also said he was concerned about the number of young people in the city without driver's licenses. Those individuals would have an easier time getting to a downtown campus than a campus on Ind. 3.
On Wednesday night, the Henry County Commissioners got behind Ivy Tech's plan, which could include constructing a community conference center. The commissioners voted unanimously to partner with Ivy Tech to pursue the dealership property.
After the meeting, Kim Cronk, president of the commissioners, said purchasing and renovating the building will likely cost more than the $1.8 million the college applied for in food and beverage funding.
"It's going to take some donations from the public," Cronk said.
The commissioners said currently, an investment group owns the dealership property. And the commissioners also cautioned that there's no guarantee that some other entity won't buy the property out from under them and Ivy Tech.
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