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KVCC, K College, WMU look to partner in downtown Kalamazoo

By Nathan Peck | MiBiz
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KALAMAZOO — A new higher education center could anchor redevelopment of the western portion of Kalamazoo’s downtown.

The presidents of Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Western Michigan University agreed in principle to exploring the feasibility of a “higher education center” to be part of the Arcadia Commons West redevelopment, an area to the west of the city’s downtown.

Marilyn Schlack of KVCC, President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran of Kalamazoo College and WMU President John Dunn meet quarterly to work toward stronger and more cooperative relationships in the core of Kalamazoo County.

While still a long way from curriculum discussions or bricks and mortar, the idea of a joint initiative centered on the culinary arts downtown holds promise, said Dunn. Discussions have focused on how a culinary arts program at KVCC could dovetail with dietetics and food marketing programs at WMU, and how a proposed curatorial program at K College could utilize the resources at the three institutions.

“There has always been a continuing interest in having many points of entry for students into WMU,” Dunn said. “We want to create a viable and sustainable presence downtown. We are proud of where we’re located; we want to communicate in every way that we can that we are responsive to the downtown community. KVCC already has a great footprint there. There are other programs that could complement what is there with an emphasis on the culinary arts. We have a strong program in food marketing and have talked about wrapping it into a program there.”

KVCC’s Arcadia Commons Campus downtown was built in 1994 with two later additions and is well beyond capacity, said Marilyn Schlack, president of KVCC.

“We are filled to the gills. We don’t have much room physically or otherwise, to grow,” Schlack said. “One of the big opportunities now in the field of dietetics is for those with culinary experience.”

The Arcadia Commons West area was also where the proposed arena project would be located. Plans for the events center were put on hold after Kalamazoo County Commissioners rejected a bond proposal that would require a hotel and dining tax to cover part of the $81 million cost of construction.

The group of presidents is looking now to engage community, government and faculty members in the process of planning what could go onto the site.

“This concept holds a great deal of potential and could have significant impact on Kalamazoo,” said Wilson-Oyelaran in a statement. “We look forward to exploring this opportunity.”

In a time of strained budgets, Schlack expressed concerns that there are unmet educational and training needs in the community. KVCC and Western are looking to collaborate on workforce training plans and on a schedule of pre-requisite courses to prepare future enrollees in the programs that would be based in a higher education center.

KVCC established its Workforce Development Center at the Northside Association Community Development as part of the college’s goal of reaching out to surrounding core neighborhoods.

“When is the right time (to build)? Is there a job demand out there? If we are successful in our planning, can we create a larger sense of community, a healthy, safe and sustainable environment? We are looking into ways we can leverage our resources so we are not duplicating services,” Schlack said.

Dunn explained the institutions are looking to engage the community stakeholders and have buy-in from a large cross-section of the community. A successful program in Arcadia Commons could be a transformative presence in that area of downtown, he said.

“There is the tendency for people to believe that ‘woe is me’ talk, kick the sand and the dust, and give up,” Dunn said. “We refuse to do that, we have to keep moving forward. It is a hard time, but we cannot be discouraged.”

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TAGS:

• economic development
• eileen wilson-oyelaran
• john dunn
• kalamazoo
• kalamazoo college
• kalamazoo valley community college
• kvcc
• marilyn schlack
• western michigan university
• wmu