Crowder expands, gets improvements

– Posted on September 1, 2012Posted in: Local

By Logan Stark
Co-editor (Fall 2012)

Crowder College is constantly growing. With campuses in Cassville, Nevada and Webb City, and with a new campus ready to be built in McDonald County, it’s evident that Crowder‘s expanding.

“It’s more convenient,” said Chasidy Bainbridge, a freshman pre nursing major who lives in Joplin, and finds it easier to attend the Crowder campus in Webb City, rather than driving down to the campus in Neosho.

So what else does Crowder have in store? Here is a list of Crowder expansions and improvements that have been completed, or are being planned, provided by Dr. Jim Cummins, vice president of finance:

McDonald County

  • Converted a lumber yard in Pineville into a facility for McDonald County’s nursing program this summer.
  • Acquired land for the McDonald County campus.
  • Performed site work in Jane in preparation for building the McDonald County campus—no official dates, but groundbreaking will probably be in the fall of 2012, and the actual construction will start in the spring of 2013.

“I’m excited,” said Dr. Cummins. “McDonald County has been a part of Crowder College since it started in 1963. We’re happy to put a facility down there. It will open it up, so that northwest Arkansas students can come to Crowder [more accessible]. It’s a good thing. And it will be a very nice building.”

Webb City

  • Process fundraising and plan Webb City expansion, which will include a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shelter (like the safe room of Davidson Hall at the Neosho campus) and some other expansions. Target date for this construction is March 2013.

Dr. Cummins said that Webb City is “bursting at the seams,” and just adding the approximately 9,000 foot FEMA building will give them room to satisfy their needs.

 Neosho

And the Neosho campus has not been forgotten. Dr. Cummins said that most of the repairs will be done on the mother campus. It will be fixed up, repaired and refurbished, because our “home” needs to be taken care of.

  • Replace Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) units in Newton and McDonald halls. (Replacing the nosier units with quieter ones.)
  • Upgrades in the Elsie Plaster Community Center.
  • New Windows in the Student Commons Area.
  • Resurfacing asphalt.
  • Building a walk bridge across the ditch coming from Rough Rider Village, and constructing a sidewalk by Smith Hall.
  • Paint Newton Hall to “freshen it up.”
  • Inspecting the dorm for possible expansion.

These are the major projects that Crowder plans to embrace. Of course this is not everything, little projects are constantly being worked on to help Crowder to improve and stay functioning, but these are the major plans that are in the making.