MCC will soon view master plan

The McHenry County College board will get a full, official look at a long-term facility master plan for the college sometime within the next month, officials said.

Steve Collins, vice president of Darien-based Wight & Co., refused to give any details of the proposed plan before it is officially presented to the board. “The plans call for possibly a number of things,” he said. “The board has seen some of it, but nothing has been approved.”

In a media interview last month, however, Wight & Co. senior project manager Leanne Meyer-Smith said proposed plans include new buildings along Route 14 that would house student services and administration. Other buildings, including a fine arts center, would go north of Tartan Drive, while parking would take up much of the current athletic fields.

The college is trying to acquire through eminent domain a 20-acre parcel at 9010 Northwest Hwy., and filed for condemnation in late October.

Wight & Co. was hired in August to do the facility master plan, which will cost the college $126,000. Last week, the board also voted to hire the company to inventory all of its interiors at a cost not to exceed $25,000.

MCC’s director of marketing and public relations, Christina Haggerty, said Wight & Co. projects a need for more buildings and parking spaces at the college. According to projections, the college’s current 4,100 full-time students will grow to 5,500 in 10 years, 7,400 in 20 years and 13,400 in 40 years.

The college now has a total of 398,000 square feet of space, which is undersized when compared to others like Elgin Community College, Harper College, College of DuPage and more, according to Wight & Co.’s data. There are 2,150 parking spaces at MCC.

In order to accommodate the projected growth, in 10 years MCC would need an additional 176,000 square feet and 750 parking spaces; in 20 years, the college would need and additional 375,000 square feet and 1,650 parking spaces. By 2051, those projections almost double.