News

STERLING, CO--With record enrollment growth underway and a pressing need for more capacity to house students on its campus, Northeastern Junior College officials are elated this week to be the recipient of a $2 million gift designated for construction of a new residence hall on the campus.

The much needed gift was generously donated to NJC by Frank and Gloria Walsh who are long time supporters of the college and the community. The family has given support for a number of programs, facilities, and causes associated with the college over the years, most recently the nursing and science programs.  

The Walsh’s gift will be used to begin construction of a new residence hall.  It will mark the first new construction on the NJC campus in over a decade.  The college plans to locate the new dorm on the northeast side of campus, between Dowis Hall and the paved driveway directly north of the Bank of Colorado Event Center.

The new building, expected to be built and open for fall semester 2011, will make a tremendous difference on a campus that is currently experiencing an annual growth rate of over 14%.    NJC is currently the second fastest growing college in Colorado and was recently listed as one of the fifty fastest growing colleges in America, Community College Week Magazine, December 2008.

Since 1997, the college has often had to house an overflow of students off campus during part of each fall semester. More housing capacity will allow NJC to continue growing enrollment and serving students from throughout the region for years to come.

The new hall, which is already in the design phase, will have a capacity for about 135 students.  It will be an advanced energy efficient building, utilizing solar water-heating, geothermal heating, and other green features.  The new building will be a certified green building, and operating costs will be minimal thanks to incorporation of cutting edge energy efficient technologies.   It is expected that the new, more modern building, will create a strong anchor for the northeast side of the campus.

“We began talking about building a new hall two years ago,” acknowledges Dr. Lance Bolton, president of the college. “We had an architectural firm meet with us and create a rendering, for a design that would meet our needs. We asked them to tour our community and come up with a design that matched our current campus architecture and our community’s character and history.” Bolton notes that the renderings are clearly inspired by the train depot building that currently houses the Chamber of Commerce, and the newer Guenzi-Read-Breidenbach Hall which was built on the west side of campus in 1996.

In recent years, NJC has done considerable work on the four other older halls on campus, all built in the 1950’s and 1960’s.  This work includes replacing roofs and windows, remodeling bathrooms, upgraded lighting and interior and exterior paint and installing fire sprinklers.  A $500,000 grant from the Department of Local Affairs last year was used to fund these improvements in part.  In addition, the college held a dorm challenge fund drive allowing alumni and others to donate toward the building they lived in while attending NJC. This effort brought in some additional dollars which were very helpful in securing the grant from DOLA, which favors proposals that enjoy local support.  “We received another $100,000 grant from DOLA this year, and we will continue to put this money into our existing facilities,” said Bolton.

Bolton said that the college will move forth quickly to finalize the plans for the building and to get construction moving as soon as possible, hoping to take advantage of reduced building material and labor costs which are a result of the current economy.

While the new building will primarily serve full-time students living on campus during the school year, it will also provide additional, much needed, air-conditioned housing for the many other groups who utilize the campus during the summer months for youth gatherings, sports camps and special academic programs.

“How very grateful we are to have something so positive happening for NJC right now,” Bolton reflected. “This gives our entire campus, actually all of northeastern Colorado, some new energy and excitement to focus on and move forward with, despite the challenging budget news we’re getting from the state. We just hope the Walsh family knows how very much this means to Northeastern Junior College and how much we appreciate their support. It’s a huge vote of confidence for our faculty, staff and students, past and future, when community leaders make a choice to invest in the work that we do here.”