The Main Purpose of the CTC Building
We’ve come a long way since the announcement of initial funding for the Peter Miller Community Technology Center addition to the IVCC campus back in August 2011.
IVCC set out with many goals when erecting a new building on campus and wanted to provide a top of the line technology department in order to reflect and keep up to date with the current advances in the workplace environment.
These advances include industrial technology, information technology, and renewable energy with all of these being present in the new building.
They include the larger advancements such as the latest machines and realistic environments to learn from, to the smaller adjustments such as having two wiring rooms (one with wooden studs for residential environments and one with metal studs for industrial environments), and power units on the ceiling to provide ease of access and to avoid accidents.
They also set out to improve accessibility for certain services such as counseling and financial aid. The current system for applying at IVCC required a lot of back and forth through different departments, but with the transition of many of these services to the new building most of them take place in the same area. The enrollment system in particular has changed, moving the registration stations, cashier, and financial aid all into a suite.
Finally, college officials had also hoped to improve the community at large by boosting economic development and job creation through their new workforce development resources. Whether or not IVCC’s new CTC building has that effect on the community at large will be seen in the years to come.
Coming Attractions: Cultural Centre
The grand opening of the CTC building does not mean that developments have stopped. IVCC will continue to support and work on the building for the next few months as they finish off the projects that were not near completion in time for the big reveal.
Among these projects is the theatre which is expected to be open in early 2014.
The theatre has been one of the more anticipated reveals of the building as it’s the center of IVCC’s entertainment realm and the current theatre productions have been relocated to Stage 212 and St. Bede until construction is complete. Construction currently involves work on the stage floor and installation of the new sound system.
The main entrance doors will still be closed until next semester and students will need to enter the building through the current lobby established in the old building.
There are also plans to erect a statue outside of the building next year. Many local architects were asked to provide statue ideas that would reflect IVCC’s student body and core principles.
A statue was chosen but has yet to be shared with the general public as of yet, so look forward to seeing its reveal some time next year.
The artwork is a requirement of the state grant for the Community Technology Center project.
Money and Donations
The new 80,000 square foot addition to the IVCC Oglesby campus which focuses on giving future students better opportunities in technical programs, continuing educational classes, and student services totaled $30.4 million.
The project received a $1 million donation from the Miller Group Charitable Trust of La Salle, which makes it the biggest gift in IVCC’s whole history.
A portion of the CTC building was named The William and Diane Taylor Student Development Commons for Bill and Dian Taylor of Winnetka who donated $100,000 to the project.
The Taylors are alumni who also fund several scholarship opportunities for IVCC students.
In the new building, there is a donor wall which showcases every donation of more than $250.
Seventy-five percent of the project’s monetary funds, or $22.8 million, came from the state of Illinois, and around $2 million came from donations through a capital campaign.
Eco-Friendly
The new Peter Miller Community Technology Center, or the CTC building, was designed to be as eco-friendly as possible and it shows in the new features that they have incorporated.
The main feature in this eco-friendly push is the geothermal pumps located in the building. These 30 pumps are located in a second floor mechanical room and will regulate the temperature in the facility by efficiently moving the heat where it is needed.
In the summer, the pumps will move the heat into a transfer source, such as water mixed with ethanol or glycol, and is pumped into the ground in small pipes where it will dissipate and in the winter the pumps will work in reverse by extracting heat from the ground. These pumps are expected to save the college gas bills and works towards their eco-friendly goal.
Low emission parking spaces were added in the CTC parking lot. These parking spaces are state required due to the $28 million grant that was given by the state and may increase up to 28 spots by next year.
The new building also supports dedicated ventilation units that are able to detect a room’s occupancy. This allows the building to regulate the room’s temperature based on its use helping to avoid energy waste. Along with the ventilation system, new daylight harvesting lights have been installed in the facility which will turn off when enough natural light is present in the environment.
All of these features have helped the college reach its goal for achieving a Leed Silver Certification, as benchmark for ranking environmentally green buildings. The college will not be stopping there however as they are still planning to make adjustments in order to receive a Gold Certification in the near future.
Homecoming
On Saturday, Nov. 2, IVCC had its first homecoming in decades to celebrate the grand opening of the new CTC building.
The past homecomings that took place in the 60s and 70s included a variety of local musical talent, dances, and BBQ picnics which were often bookended by football games when we still sponsored a football team.
This year’s homecoming featured tours of the new CTC building and the season opener of the IVCC basketball season. IVCC also had activities going on including a brief hands-on tennis lesson, an IVCC themed raffle, and a cookout in the gym.
Also on hand was the IV Leader staff itself which had set up a booth to celebrate IVCC’s history through its various issues (that reached back to the 1930s) and the various year books that we have collected over the years.