Elgin Community College buys office building for $1.9 million

Elgin Community College is spending $1.9 million on an office building and land adjacent to the campus.

Trustees Tuesday night authorized the purchase of the red brick office building, situated on the 400 block of Renner Drive.

Located in the Burnidge Industrial Park near the college's northwest corner, it is a roughly 35,000-square-foot building, according to college estimates. It is owned by Suburban Plastics Co., ECC vice president of business and finance Sharon Konny said.

Purchasing adjacent properties in order to accommodate increasing enrollment was noted as a priority in both the college's 2006 strategic master plan and its 2020 master facilities plan.

Konny said the college plans to remodel the building to provide multipurpose classrooms and office space. ECC also owns another building on the same street and is looking into turning it into offices and classrooms as well, Konny said.

The northwest side of ECC's campus also features some vacant land, which Konny said may be used to build extra parking lots.