Joliet Junior College staff moves into $42 million Campus Center

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Construction continues Monday, June 20, 2011, at the new campus center at Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Ill. | Matthew Grotto~Sun-Times Media

Updated: October 1, 2011 12:38AM

JOLIET — Joliet Junior College has constructed a major new campus building that will welcome students in the fall.

The first wave of employees moved into the $42 million JJC Campus Center this week. Many had big smiles on their faces as they navigated freshly painted corridors and open air stairwells.

“It’s just a really magnificent building,” said JJC spokesman Jeff Julian. “It’s modern and is classical in design. I think it will stand the test of time. More important, it’s going to serve students well now and into the future.”

Betsy Oudenhoven, vice president of student development, said the three-story, 115,000-square-foot campus center is much better organized compare to the cramped quarters for students services in J Building.

“We’re very excited about this (building) because it’s going to be student friendly,” she said.

Vast improvements

The campus center is part of the school’s multi-year, multi-building $189 million master plan. The plan has paved the way for the biggest construction boon on the main campus since the college moved from its first home in Joliet Central High School to its current location at 1215 Houbolt Road in the late 1960s, Julian said.

A few finishing touches are needed, and construction equipment continues to drone outside, but the majority of the building is done.

Julian said the campus center gives JJC, which was founded 110 years ago as the nation’s first community college, a new and much more impressive front door. In the past, the school’s main entrance was tucked in the northwestern corner of campus.

The campus center is in a more prominent location on the southeastern portion of campus and is quickly visible from the school’s entrance roads. A greenway will be installed in front of the white building and an interior ring road will allow cars to drop off passengers at the door.

The campus center also has a much better system of welcoming students as they seek admission, enroll in courses, apply for financial aid or sign up for career and academic counseling services, Julian said. Everything students will need to get their college careers off on the right foot will be on the first floor of the building in one long corridor of offices called Student Street.

For instance, the office that handles admissions, enrollment and financial aid will feature cross-trained employees who can work with students at numerous service points.

“We’re not going to be doing financial aid from a little window in a hallway,” Oudenhoven said, describing the past practice.

And services for disabled students will be on the first floor instead of the second floor, she added.

“We went all over and looked at different colleges and tried to take the best from every place we saw,” Oudenhoven said. “Now it’s about to happen. We’ve been looking forward to this for three years. This is transforming, no question.”

The building’s second floor will house the school’s library, and the third floor is for administrative offices and the board of trustees meeting room. A new cafeteria with a circular skylight takes advantage of views of the school’s wooded areas to the west and includes room for outdoor dining.

The campus center connects JJC’s A and C buildings for the first time. It also features several energy saving measures including solar panels, green roofs and a geothermal heating and cooling system. Part of the system is visible through a window on the building’s first floor.

All part of school’s master plan

Employees will continue to move into their new quarters during July and the building will be ready for students when the fall semester starts in August. A campus center grand opening will be held Sept. 15 to coincide with the school’s Main Street festival, which welcomes students to campus.

The building, which was constructed on a site that once housed a 40-year-old green “temporary” building, was paid for with funds generated by a student fee increase.

The campus center is the third new JJC building to open as part of the plan. A new greenhouse along Houbolt Road was the first. A 35,000-square-foot facilities services building near the J Building was second.

Also in the works are new buildings for automotive, natural sciences and health professions programs.

Another major addition to JJC will be the 96,000-square-foot City Center Campus in downtown Joliet, which will house hospitality, culinary arts and adult services programs. The board of trustees voted earlier this month to spend $50 million on the downtown campus.

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