CCV Moves from Burlington to Winooski by Anthony Carace

WINOOSKI, VT - The grand opening for the new CCV facility is set in stone. On Monday, May 3rd, the Community College of Vermont will officially open its doors in Winooski, abandoning the Burlington home it has occupied for the past nine years. On May 17th, administrative and academic services will be made available for use by faculty. While these dates are certain, one thing remains unclear—why is CCV moving from Pearl Street all the way to Winooski?

“We don’t own the building, and that’s one of the reasons for getting off Pearl Street,” said Adam Warrington, director of admissions at CCV. Indeed, CCV Burlington shares its base with a myriad of other offices, and the building itself is quite labyrinthine—this reporter found it quite difficult to reach the office in which the interview with Warrington would be conducted. In Winooski, CCV’s own building will give the college the option to even expand construction if they wish. “We’re already at maximum capacity for students,” said Warrington. “There are points in the day when we simply can’t offer classes because there isn’t the space to hold them.”

The push for space was an incredible incentive in moving to Winooski. The new building is 65,000 square feet of learning environment and, in addition to larger and more numerous classrooms, will contain four science labs, three art studios, and a performance space. “Our main priority was the accommodation of students’ learning needs,” said Warrington. He also noted that students were given the opportunity to pitch their own ideas about how the building should function. For example, a new sound studio employed students’ thoughts on how well acoustics work, Warrington added.

In addition to being a more expansive building, the Winooski facility will also be LEED certified, meaning that it adheres to high-quality environmentally-friendly standards. At $17 million, the project is a pricey one, but that doesn’t herald financial troubles for students. “Students will have no additional costs added to their tuition for the building,” said Warrington. Vermont State Colleges(VSC)has funded the project, so students will have less to worry about, finance wise, when doors open for the fall semester. As well as providing funding for the Winooski campus, VSC has funded a $72 million project for four other state campuses.

Winooski itself is an excellent location for the new facility because it isn’t far from Burlington, a fact that may attract more students (such as those from surrounding areas) rather than deter them.”We wanted a town that has a similar downtown feel to Burlington,” said Warrington. While Winooski may lack some of the Burlington mainstays such as Nectars and Rasputin’s, it boasts a variety of eateries, bars, and shops students can visit after class.

Another advantage of moving CCV to Winooski is the travel accommodations. Parking in Burlington is a persistent issue, and while the Cherry Street station is located at the rear of CCV’s campus, people are more apt to drive. “The Winooski campus is bypassed by one of the most heavily travelled bus-routes in Chittenden County,” said Warrington. At the crux of Route 15 and Interstate 89, people have the option to hop on the bus and catch a ride to CCV rather easily. In league with the idea of an environmentally friendly building, Warrington said CCV is trying to make the campus more bike accessible. “We hope to get more cars out of there and make more room for bikes.” Parking lots such as the one at Spinner Place will be available for commuter use, and there are plenty of parking meters for students to occupy while they are in class. The Winooski bike-way lays right behind the building, so students even have the option to go for an after-class bike ride.

Without question, the change in location for CCV will affect the college for the time being. Exactly what changes will be yielded clearly remains unseen, but the air around the college is positive. “It’s a real exciting time,” said Warrington. “We can’t wait to get over there.”