Westchester Community College has relocated its extension center in Mount Vernon after outgrowing its former downtown space in the city.
Spring semester classes will begin this month at the college”™s new 22,000-square-foot center at 17 S. Fifth Ave. WCC spokesman Patrick Hennessey said the new space is larger by 6,000 square feet and can accommodate more students than the school”™s former center at 175 Gramatan Ave., which has been closed.
Owned by ER Holdings, Â the long-vacant property on South Fifth Avenue was last used as a NYNEX Corp. call center, according to WCC officials.
In addition to spacious classrooms, the renovated facility includes a lecture hall, an expanded academic support center, a student lounge, an open lab and separate lounges for faculty and for staff. Hennessey said parking will be more convenient at the new location.
The extension center is currently the sole occupant, though senior apartments and a café are planned for the building. Those spaces have not yet been leased out, Hennessey said.
John F.M. Flynn, interim president of Westchester Community College, in a press release said the site helps the college “fulfill its mission to be accessible to county residents. For a decade, Mount Vernon residents have had their own freestanding facility with classes tailored to members of the area community. We are confident that this larger center, designed to further the education of local residents and to propel career development, will give the city and the individuals who reside in the area a significant economic boost.”
WCC”™s 218-acre main campus is in Valhalla. The college also has extensions in Ossining, Yonkers, White Plains and Peekskill.
