PLANNING FOR FUTURE
MCCC mulls upgrades, enhancements to West Campus
POTTSTOWN >> It’s been 23 years since Montgomery County Community College opened its West Campus in Pottstown.
As the decade comes to an end, college officials are looking at some upgrades, including changing the name to the Pottstown Campus.
Some of the ideas were presented recently to the borough council by Interim President and Provost Victoria Bastecki-Perez and West Campus Vice President Therol Dix.
The college has preliminary plans to include a “Challenger Learning Center,” at the campus.
Affiliated with NASA, it gives young students real-life experience in how science and math lessons translate into real jobs in the field.
“Center Missions are STEM experiences designed for middle school students and available at Challenger Learning Centers around the globe. The space-themed simulation-based experiences are led by trained flight directors and take place in a fully immersive space station and mission control,” according to the website.
“Surrounded by technology, each student plays a unique role in the mission as the team completes assignments, manipulates hands-on labs, and copes with simulated emergencies,” is how the site describes center activities. “Teamwork is crucial, if one member fails to complete a job, the entire mission can be put at risk. This differentiated approach allows for a truly personalized learning experience where students apply critical, scientific knowledge to real-world scenarios.”
Challenger center comes with networks to other agencies, chiefly NASA, and each youth can learn about various technical careers. “It is not the goal to have everyone become an astronaut,” said Bastecki-Perez.
The center would be a STEM pipeline for Pottstown school students, said Dix.
If established, it would be “the first of its kind in Pennsylvania,” according to the college website.
Bastecki-Perez said the school’s board of directors is also looking into a more integrated “campus feel” for what they will soon call the Pottstown Campus.
Plans for a $4.2 million renovation to South Hall, the original building on College Drive, are already in the works.
Bastecki-Perez said in September, the construction project is part of the college’s master plan. “We want to make this part of the campus more forward-facing for the community,” she said.
Construction will begin in 2020.
But beyond that is a concept for re-imagining the college’s four buildings in Pottstown.
According to the presentation made to council, which is conceptual in nature, South Hall would become the “Innovation Pavilion;” the North Hall on High Street would become the
“Creativity Pavilion;” the former PECO building in Riverfront Park would become the “STEM Pavilion” and the former railroad freight building off South Hanover Street would become the
“Community and Commerce Pavilion.”
Additionally, the college is also looking at creating community gardens, a market and community play space on the property on the north side of College Drive between South Hanover Street and South Hall.
The college wants to “better connect the buildings in Pottstown, and give it more of a ‘campus feel,’” BasteckiPerez
told council.
That could even include a large entrance sign at Pottstown’s South Gateway entrance off the Hanover Street bridge.
Bastecki-Perez said these concepts are all still just that, but wanted to share them with borough council to get their input.
Council members expressed enthusiasm for the ideas presented.