A new collaborative-use building has been approved by the NIC board of trustees in their Dec. 12 meeting, which will continue to expand campus like the rec center, which is nearing completion.
The new building will be a place where students North Idaho College, Lewis-Clark State College and University of Idaho can mingle. The three colleges are part of NICHE, the North Idaho Consortium for Higher Education.
“These three schools have had the longest presence,” said Rocky Owens, director of Lewis-Clark State College Coeur d’ Alene and chairman of NICHE. “We have invested a number of years in this community both with economic resources and with personnel.
All together, the higher education institutes in Coeur d’ Alene serve around 5,000 students, offering 75 degree programs.
“You can now go from kindergarten to Ph.D. in Coeur d’ Alene,” Owens said. “How cool is that?”
The purpose of the collaborative building is to bring students together and let NIC students become more aware of what their options are in Coeur d’ Alene.
“This building will serve as an anchor building, a one-stop-shop, we hope, for students to come in and get all of their entry points needs met for admissions and enrollment, not only to NIC, but to also LCSC and University of Idaho,” Owens said.
This building has been in the planning stages since 2010, and now that the funding has been provided, the plans can finally begin to materialize into a new hub for campus.
According to the Dec. 12 board of trustees meeting, funding was divided up according to the following list:
- $4M Requested and received from PBF in FY2016
- $1M Additional requested and received from PBF in FY2017
- $2.5M Pledged from Ignite Coeur d’ Alene
- $2M Committed by partner institutions
- $9.5M Project Cost
The location of the building will be on North Idaho College’s campus and will contain classrooms and a general gathering area. The harbor building on Academic Way where the transfer schools are currently located will be designated to administrative offices.
“NIC is kind of the feeder school for LCSC and University of Idaho,” Owens said. “They provide the first two years of all of our students’ education here. So that is the natural starting point. And then it becomes an easy transition to advise those students to go on to LCSC or U of I.”
The new location will be where the River and Timber buildings currently are, though several other areas were initially considered. The demolition for the intended site is projected to be $50,000.
The student rec center began construction just after July and now has completed walls and roof. When finished, the center will have a 36 foot tall climbing wall, weight lifting rooms, fitness rooms, locker rooms, classrooms, a gymnasium and multi-purpose room.
“We are making great progress,” said Sarah Garcia during the November 2016 board of trustees meeting. “We have not had any major stumbling blocks… so far. And we’re really excited with the progress that we’re making.”
Together with both the new collaboration building and the new rec center, NIC continues to grow.
“This is a situation where all ships rise with growth,” Owens said. “NIC’s growth means growth for us [LCSC] and the University of Idaho. A strong University of Idaho means a strong Lewis-Clark State College. And it’s that reciprocal cooperation and support that I think will help us really grow into the future.”
