Delta college march 18.JPG

Delta College President Jean Goodnow recommended the college choose Downtown Saginaw as a zone to build its new Saginaw center. The Board of Trustees will vote April 15.

(Lindsay Knake | MLive.com)

SAGINAW, MI — And the recommendation for Delta College's new Saginaw center? downtown Saginaw.

Jean Goodnow, Delta College president, and her administrative team unanimously chose the zone, which the Board of Trustees will ultimately vote on at the April 15 meeting.

About 50 people attended the

on Tuesday, March 18, where board members discussed the future site.

Next month, the board will vote on one of four zones:

Buena Vista Township, downtown Saginaw, Michigan Avenue or Old Town Saginaw. Each zone has a two-mile radius.

In months following, the board will pick a specific site within the zone to likely build a facility.

Delta College's current Saginaw campus is at the Ricker Center in Buena Vista Township. About 80 percent of the 650 students who take classes there live in the city of Saginaw.

"Let's just dream for a minute," Goodnow said at the Tuesday meeting.

Humanities students could form partnerships with The Dow Event Center and Temple Theatre, she said. There are a number of engineering firms such as Spicer Group for engineering and technology students, and English and history students have access to Hoyt Library, she said.

Projections indicate by 2020 the college could enroll 1,100 students with a facility in downtown Saginaw, Goodnow said.

Wherever the facility is, she said, it will offer an associate's degree and class schedules to fit student needs.

Students and adults are attracted to a place that looks nice, that looks like a college, Goodnow said.

Parking availability, quiet study areas and computer labs are important for students, she said.

Delta College hired Ann Arbor-based SmithGroupJJR and Denver-based Paulien & Associates Inc.

to help with the redesign and planning. Representatives went through seven criteria to recommend a zone to the board.

The criteria include access, collaboration, economic feasibility and perception. Both groups also agreed downtown Saginaw is the best location, said Doug Kozma of SmithGroup.

Saginaw City Manager Tim Morales said the city is willing and able to help with location studies and property acquisition. The city has done it before with Central Michigan University and businesses in the area.

"We know how to accommodate a world-class facility," he said.

Dwayne Parker, Buena Vista Township supervisor, said he was disappointed with the recommendation but still sees a breath of life for the township.

"We feel strongly Buena Vista site is the best fit," he said.

Urban core

Community colleges have opened centers in downtowns across the country and helped improve enrollment, opened up partnerships with businesses and generally have been catalysts in assisting with growth in the area, Goodnow said.

“There does seem to be a trend to see community colleges more in this direction,” she said. "This is happening all around the United States and all around Michigan."

Trustee Karen Lawrence-Webster, a Saginaw resident, said she's been waiting for this for 14 years.

"I believe in the urban core. I believe our students should have an accessible facility," she said.

While she said she is ready to vote for Saginaw, other trustees were not as certain about the location.

Bob Emrich said Frankenmuth, Birch Run and Bridgeport-Spaulding school districts wanted the center in Buena Vista Township.

"I'm not too sure I'm sold on this urban core," he said.

"I'm not sure what downtown Saginaw is. Try to buy a toothbrush in downtown Saginaw. It's impossible."

R. Earl Selby agreed.

"If you have something people want, need and people will go get, you don't have to build it in the urban center," he said.

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Lindsay Knake covers education for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.