About a month and a half ago, we kicked off this term with MCC night at Frontier Field, in a section of the stadium that offered a perfect view of our new downtown campus location at Kodak. As I left the game with my children that evening and walked past Kodak on the way to the car, my son asked, “So is this your new campus?” My answer was simple: “Yes.”
But, as we all well know by this point, nothing about this journey has been simple. When Renaissance Square fell apart, MCC went back to the start: engaging in a robust, thorough process to rethink all aspects of the project. The list of questions to which we sought answers is long and seemed to get longer throughout the search: Was the property available to buy? Would it meet our site selection criteria? Was it suitable for a college campus? Did it provide parking? Access to transportation? Room for growth? Was it affordable? The last question proved key, as we had discovered that delays in the project had meant we could no longer build new with our budget. We needed to find a site we could redevelop, and as luck would have it, we had one that met that criterion plus all others and then some: a set of buildings at Kodak.
That announcement came last December, and this December, our goal is to hit another downtown campus milestone: an affirmative vote on our bonding resolution for the new DCC. The vision we have for the new campus is clear: to provide a physical campus that matches the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of our DCC students and the dedication, commitment, and inspiration of our DCC faculty and staff. In practical terms, this means expanded academic and workforce programming, room for engaging student life and leadership activities, a small business incubator, 21st century technology infrastructure to support 21st century learning, a university center for transfer partners, a strong connection to our new High Falls neighbors, and more.
As we have shared with the Monroe County Legislature, in addition to providing a perfect site for the college to fulfill this vision, the Kodak properties offer a very tangible benefit for Monroe County taxpayers: it will cost $10M less than the alternative—even though the Kodak property is larger, meets more of the site selection criteria, provides a full campus experience in a downtown setting, and comes with parking. From our vantage point, even though the journey to finding the Kodak site was long and winding, it truly resulted in—to go back to Frontier Field—a home run. And, if you think it’s just me saying that, talk to any of the hundreds of folks who have toured the site, to the hundreds who have signed a petition hosted by neighboring Pizza Stop in favor of MCC’s decision, to our students and alums, or even to our new neighbors in High Falls.
We are now rounding third base and heading for (our new) home. These next few weeks will be critical for us in continuing to share our vision for the new downtown campus, for its importance for our students and our community, and for its ability to deliver all this at a responsible price point. If I can mix my sports metaphors, I guess that this is the time I’m encouraging all at MCC to become the proverbial “sixth man”—the player who demonstrates the depth and excellence of the full team. Your support of MCC’s 20-year effort to have a permanent downtown home worthy of our students, faculty, and staff is needed now more than ever. Use the comments section on the blog to share your stories about the impact DCC has today and the even greater impact it can have tomorrow. And, this December, let’s look forward to a holiday to remember!
Anne M. Kress
President's Office
10/17/2012 |