Elgin Community College plans to issue $55 million in general obligation bonds to pay for a new manufacturing and technology center and to renovate empty space in Building O on its Spartan Drive campus.
The bond sale, expected to take place Sept. 10, will not result in a tax increase, officials said.
“There will not be a separate tax levy for these bonds as they are an alternate revenue source. The debt payments will be made from tax levy dollars within the operations and maintenance fund and from tuition and fees revenue,” college spokeswoman Andrea Watson said.
Planning and design for the new facility is underway, according to ECC documents. It will be built on land off McClean Boulevard and Spartan Drive near the college’s main entrance. Watson said construction is expected to start this fall.
Along with the bonds, funding for the projects is coming from two other sources.
Through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the state has appropriated $29.5 million in FY24 capital funds for the work, Watson said.
“The grants are on a reimbursement basis and will be requested as expenses are incurred,” she said.
Trustees also have earmarked $27 million for construction of the manufacturing building from the college’s operations and maintenance restricted funds.
A final budget for all the work is still being determined. The estimated cost for just the manufacturing building is $55 million, Watson said.
Trustees also unanimously approved a move related to the construction of the new building — demolishing the building that was D Hangout Bar & Grill, 550 S. McLean Blvd.
ECC bought that building and its lot in December for about $1.5 million, Watson said.
The demolition is expected to happen sometime this summer, with the land leveled and restored. The contract for the work with Omega III LLC of Elgin is expected to run $111,125, according to documents.
“There are discussions at the board level to incorporate this land and adjacent land for the new manufacturing building,” Watson said.
That adjacent land would include where the Colonial Cafe once stood, at 600 S. McLean Blvd. That lot is off the northwest corner of Spartan Drive and McClean Boulevard, near the main entrance to the campus and had already been earmarked as the site for the manufacturing center. ECC purchased the restaurant property in 2020 for $937,500.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
