MCC consultant advises team effort on expansion

For a successful Health Wellness and Athletic Center to happen, McHenry County College needs to make more of a team effort, a marketing consultant advised the board of trustees last week.

If the college moves forward with its proposed $28 million athletic and educational facility, it should do so with local business and community partnerships.

"Don't do this yourself," advised Richard Starr, vice president of consulting firm Economic Research Associates, who completed an outside review of the college project feasibility study last spring.

Starr attended last week's board meeting to pitch how his firm could help inject new life into the expansion plan, tabled Oct. 17 by the Crystal Lake City Council.

By partnering with local hospitals, sports teams, rotary clubs and tourism bureaus, the college could increase the project's appeal, helping attract businesses to buy-in, Starr said.

Scores of McHenry County residents, along with board members Donna Kurtz and Scott Summers, have voiced concerns about the proposal's eventual cost to taxpayers if revenue projections from the complex are wrong.

The complex, which includes a 6,500-seat stadium that would play host to a minor league team, also faces accusations of bringing unnecessary noise, traffic and trouble into McHenry County.

While board Chair George Lowe Jr. and Trustee Carol Larson embraced partnership possibilities, Vice Chair Frances Glosson expressed concerns.

"We have cheerleaders practicing in the cafeteria because the gym is full," Glosson said. "We certainly need more space."

However, Glosson said, training students in the additional classrooms the Health, Wellness and Athletic Complex would provide must be a higher priority than "replicating a Cardinal Fitness."

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