Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
The hope is that construction will begin next spring on the downtown campus of Kansas City Kansas Community College. It will be a $62 million project. The college will cooperate with Community America Credit Union, the Kansas City, Kansas, School District and Swope Health.
That was the message that Dr. Greg Mosier brought to about 90 community leaders who attended the President’s Annual Breakfast at the college Thursday, Nov. 11, at the Paul Jewell building at the college.
The year 2023 will mark the college’s centennial anniversary.
This capital fund-raising effort is the second in the college’s history. Voters approved a bond issue to build the main campus that opened in the early 1970s.
The college has been successful in private sector fund-raising with a $10 million grant from the Sunderland Foundation. The state of Kansas has awarded $12 million toward the construction.
The campus will be located in the 600 block of State Avenue. Course offerings will include high-wage technical education programs plus classes in General Educational Diploma and English as a Second Language.
A highlight of the breakfast was testimonials from two students who received scholarships. The students were Elizabeth Daniels and Madalynn McInness.
Dr. Mosier cited achievements including 15 awards student musicians received from Downbeat magazine and the college’s softball team that made it to a national tournament and was seeded ninth.
The extension course in welding at the Lansing Corrections Facility has been successful in training inmates to help assure that they will have a skill when released.
A major improvement to the main campus is a dormitory called Centennial Hall. It can house 258 students in a state-of-the-art building.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is a member of Business West.