Students in the east side of Illinois Valley Community College"s district eventually may have a shorter commute.

The city of Ottawa and the IVCC Board of Trustees are exploring opening a satellite campus somewhere in the city limits. Mayor Bob Eschbach said during an IVCC committee meeting Monday the city is considering purchasing a building and leasing it to the college.

IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said about 40 percent of the credit hours at the college are taken by students living on the east side of the district, about 1,500 students total each semester and 600 in the summer. About 35 percent of these students are part-time.

By opening a satellite center in Ottawa, he hopes to attract even more students to take more classes with the shorter commute and explore new program possibilities, maybe even offering classes through Northern Illinois University for bachelor and master degree programs.

In addition to Ottawa, Corcoran said, other communities that would benefit from a satellite center in Ottawa would be Streator, Marseilles, Earlville, Sheridan, Seneca, Grand Ridge, Ransom, Serena and Naplate.

Discussion has been on the table for about six months. Corcoran has spoken to Eschbach and school officials from districts on the east side of IVCC's boundaries. All favored the idea of a campus in Ottawa.

Eschbach told the facilities committee Monday that the city is in negotiations to purchase a building that it could then lease to IVCC.

"It's a nice location with adequate parking, an urban setting for the school," he said. "The city is very excited about this."

But committee member David Mallery feared that adding the center may detract from the enrollment and offerings at the Oglesby campus. He asked Corcoran to explain how the success of the new center would be measured in order to determine if the satellite center should continue or be disbanded.

The committee recommended that a business plan be developed that can then be reviewed by the full board in July. Corcoran acknowledged that opening the center did not guarantee an increase in enrollment and applauded the city for considering taking such a risk.

"I graduated from IVCC and appreciate and understand the importance of community college education and all it has to offer," Eschbach said.

Under the current proposal, IVCC would pay no rent on the building the first year in order to put the money into marketing the venture. The high schools have also indicated a willingness to promote the new satellite center to students, Corcoran said.

If the plan is approved, IVCC would be looking to open the center in fall 2010. The college would monitor its success for four years to determine how successful the venture is.

"We can serve a greater population," said Corcoran. "There is risk here, but I wouldn"t bring it to you if I didn"t think it made good sense."

In another matter, the IVCC facilities committee also discussed the proposed Community Technology Center and how to direct the district architect to proceed.

The program planning portion of the study has been completed and the architect is ready to move to schematic design. However, the expected square footage of 72,000 square feet has increased to 78,000 square feet.

District architect Paul Basalay, of Basalay, Cary and Alstadt of Ottawa, said the college must decide whether to cut programs in this space to reduce square footage or to make other changes to the building to lower the costs on the 78,000 square feet. The district's portion of the project had been expected to be about $7 million, with the rest of the $30 million project paid for by the state and stimulus dollars.

If no changes are made and the building is 78,000 square feet that could add an additional $1.2 million to the final cost, something board members did not want to see happen.

The new building will wrap around Building F, which houses the Cultural Centre, and will be two stories. A variety of technological programs will be housed there, as well as student service offices and a business training center.

IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said nothing about the tech center is set in stone yet.

"We're at that point that the steering committee is ready to hand it off to the facilities committee," he said. "There is nothing to lead anyone to believe this is the final version ready to go to the board."

Basalay told the committee that the schematic design phase will generate firmer numbers, at which time the board can fine-tune the project to keep it in line financially with what the board wants to spend.

The Facilities Committee asked the Finance Committee to look at funding options to pay for the college's portion of the project. Most of the funds are already set aside in the college's coffers for capital improvements.

Trustee Tom Setchell recommended looking for beneficiaries who would be willing to make donations in exchange for having some green spaces or the student life area named in their honor, something other schools have done successfully.

The committee agreed to bring the matter to the full board next week to decide how to proceed.

"I would like to see full the 78,000 (square feet)," said Dennis Thompson, board chairman. "I don"t see doing this twice in my lifetime. We're just doing it once, but we need to know if we can pull this off. Also we have to have a reality check as to the expanded role of the college"s financial responsibility."