North Central Missouri College President Doctor Lenny Klaver reports the construction is going well at the new campus in Savannah and is on schedule.
He says a class was to be offered at the Savannah campus the week of November 14th as a trial run. A robotics class is to start there in a few weeks also mainly as a trial run and to make sure the equipment the college has is working well for the career and technical area. Construction will continue, and classes will be offered in the remodeled section.
More classes will be offered to start in January. Klaver says that by August, NCMC plans to have an Allied Health and Nursing Building open for courses and programs.
The Savannah campus construction was divided into two phases.
Klaver notes NCMC conducted research and found the majority of the population in the then 16-county region was to the west towards Saint Joseph.
Klaver says the location in Country Club was a “rather small” facility the college remodeled to offer general education courses and the Behavioral Health Program, which is online now. He explains NCMC will phase out of the Country Club building, and it will have classroom space at the Savannah facility for those programs.
Klaver mentions that the only tax base for NCMC is the Trenton R-9 School District for in-district. There is an in-state rate, too.
He reports the college has received $7 million over the last two legislative sessions from the state to fund a lot of the facilities in Savannah. The college also received funding from a federal Block Grant and a state Governor’s Enhancement Grant. Phase 2 had another $1 million grant from a foundation.
Klaver notes NCMC continues to receive gifts through fundraising and is looking to get more grants.
The NCMC Foundation has been involved. Development Director Alicia Endicott and Klaver have been fundraising for about a year and a half.
Klaver says he is confident the college will meet the need for fully funding the construction of the Savannah campus.
North Central Missouri College is preparing to build a new student center on the campus in Trenton. The bookstore was moved to a former U. S. Bank Building, Barnes and Freeman Halls and the former bookstore is closed, and a lot south of Geyer Hall has been cleared.
Klaver hopes to create more green space as well as a centerpiece of the campus where flagpoles could be moved.
North Central Missouri College will celebrate 100 years in 2025. The school was formerly Trenton Junior College.
Doctor Klaver believes NCMC is the third oldest community college in Missouri after Metropolitan Community College (1915) and Mineral Area College (1922).
Klaver thinks the key for NCMC has been to involve a lot of people in the planning process and get input in many areas. He says the college developed a good plan and will execute it reasonably and in a timely manner. That way NCMC will know what it is doing at all times and that there is always a next step.
