COLUMBUS, Ind. — A few years ago, the Community Education Coalition learned that WorkOne planned to move out of the Columbus Learning Center, a departure that would leave almost 10,000 square feet available on the building’s ground floor.
The learning center property is home to the campuses of Ivy Tech, IUPUC and Purdue Polytechnic.
This change, along with others, set in motion plans to renovate the learning center and add a number of services and spaces to support students’ social wellbeing, educational pursuits, access to community resources and career connections.
“A big chunk of the ground floor is being renovated in support of this project, and the project is on schedule to open up this summer, so that’s very exciting,” said Veronica Franzese with the Community Education Coalition.
Franzese has acted as a facilitator for collaboration throughout the project. She and CEC executive director Kathy Oren discussed the particulars of the endeavor at a recent Ivy Tech Columbus board of trustees meeting.
There are a few different pieces to the renovations. Ivy Tech’s new bookstore opened April 18 and is next to IUPUC’s bookstore inside of the learning center. Some new signage will also be added to the store’s entrance, said Oren.
Also, two new spaces known as “The Bridge” and “The Landing” are set to open this summer, as are some new conference rooms.
“The Bridge is your connection to success, connection to information, connection to employers, that bridge,” said Oren. “The Landing is like, ‘This is where I come to hang out. This is where I come to just be, to recharge, to relax and to connect.’ We want students to be connecting with each other from across the campus, regardless of what institution they belong to.”
For the complete story and more photos, see Thursday’s Republic.
