Students at LCCC will have a new front door to the campus come late August and a little further down the road expanded physical education opportunities as the College seeks to meet the demands being brought by continued enrollment increases.

New Library/Community Resource Center

This trend of enrollment increases at LCCC has seen the student population grow just over 50 percent since the 2000 academic year. The original LCCC campus was built more than 40 years ago to accommodate about 6,600 students.  According to Sasaki Associates Inc., the design planning firm on the improvement projects, LCCC is one of the most under built and over-utilized college campuses in the region. 

The improvements will allow LCCC to provide new learning methodologies, and increase the learning per square foot through the layering of campus activities in order to promote learning anytime, anywhere. Technology will be seamlessly integrated in all aspect of campus life and learning.

The College will also be better able to meet its Vision 2015 goal of increasing its enrollment by 40 percent as well as improving learning, retention and completion rates of its students by the year 2015.  This increase reflects the education attainment goals of the State of Ohio.

“More students than ever are finding that LCCC is an important catalyst in the process of developing them into highly-skilled, entrepreneurial talent,” said LCCC President Roy A. Church.

By early fall the new LCCC Library/Community Resource Center will be complete and provide the campus and community with 86,000 square feet of enhanced library services and resources. The new center will also be designated as an official branch of the Elyria Public Library System.

Both LCCC and the public library have resources to commit that will provide an enriched-collection for students and the public. The first floor will feature popular adult material, newspapers, DVDs, CDs, a children’s area as well as a 3,500 square-foot meeting space called “The Living Room.”

The second floor will have an information commons with computer terminals, public service desk, group study areas and approximately half the library’s book collections. Additional shelves for books will be located on the third floor with many more group and individual study area. The new center will also have wireless access for laptop computers.

“This is a true collaboration in every sense of the word,” Church said.

The new Library/Community Resource Center will host a family open house during LCCC's FamilyFest from noon to 6 p.m., Saturday, October 18. The Open House will include entertainment, hands-on activities for kids, and demonstrations.

Improved Physical Education Facility

The expansion and renovations will increase the square footage from 42,000 square feet to 55,000 square feet. All will be needed to accommodate student enrollment increases as well as increased utilization of the facilities by community members.

“This upgrade will provide more opportunity for students and community members to use cutting-edge health and fitness technology,” Church said.