Ivy Tech plans $60M in capital projects

The Ivy Tech Community College board of trustees on Thursday approved a $60 million capital improvement project on its Fort Wayne campus. The project includes a new nursing and health sciences facility, as well as renovations to college’s Coliseum Campus.

The board voted to issue bonds up to $60 million to finance the project, which Ivy Tech president Sue Ellspermann said has been a capital priority for the college board chair Andrew Wilson said is being made possible because of Ivy Tech’s strong financial position.

Plans call for the construction of a 50,000-square-foot nursing and health sciences facility that Ivy Tech said will help address a nursing shortage in the region.

The college said the facility will allow the campus to increase enrollment in the Schools of Health Sciences and Nursing by at least 7% and boost completion of high-quality health care certificates, credentials and degrees by 20%.

The project will also include the renovation and modernization of the Coliseum Campus, which is the main hub for Ivy Tech Fort Wayne. The effort will focus on increasing instructional lab space and reducing overall square footage, which the college said will provide operational savings of more than $600,000.

“We must provide exceptional facilities with state-of-the art equipment where students can train for high-demand, high-wage jobs,” Chancellor Kim Barnett-Johnson said in a news release. “This project will allow our campus to provide a learning experience that mirrors what students will encounter in a modern industry setting while enhancing our support services.”

Additional plans for the project include demolishing Harshman and Carroll halls, which were built in 1965; unifying student enrollment and support services into a single facility; and streamlining administrative office space to reflect a hybrid work environment.

The project must be reviewed by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and State Budget Committee before construction can begin.

Ivy Tech aims to break ground in 2025.

Ivy Tech Fort Wayne is the college’s second-largest campus and serves more than 19,000 students from Adams, Allen, Dekalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.