Donors stepping in to help YCCC expansion

Photo / Courtesy of York County Community College York County Community College is expanding with an $8.4 million building that will include eight classrooms, a 140-seat lecture-and-performance hall, labs and flexible space for meetings. The school's current building can accommodate 1,100 students but the college now has 1,750 students.

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By Peter Van Allen

York County Community College has received a key donation toward its planned expansion.

Saco & Biddeford Savings committed $100,000 to the college’s capital campaign, CEO Kevin Savage said.

YCCC, which opened in 1995 and is based in Wells, has outgrown its principal home, a 78,000-square-foot building. When its current building opened in 2001, YCCC had 700 students; it now has more than 1,750 students.

To accommodate the growth, it is building an $8.4 million, 18,000-square-foot building that will have eight modern classrooms, a 140-seat lecture-and-performance hall, labs for developmental mathematics and English and study areas for both groups and individuals. Some space will be flexible, allowing classrooms to change size and also to provide space for events.

Barbara Finkelstein, who is in her third year as president of YCCC, told Mainebiz on Thursday that the space crunch has restricted the college’s growth.

“It really hurt us in terms of being able to offer certain programs. The current building was designed for 1,100 students and at last count we were at 1,758,” said Finkelstein. “It’s been tight, especially in the area of meeting space. It breaks my heart when I see students who are having to sit on the floor in the halls.”

The college has helped train the workforce for area businesses, many of which have responded by donating to the capital campaign.

“YCCC is an important part of our communities, helping to give educational opportunities to thousands of students in a wide variety of fields,” Savage said. “We have been a supporter since YCCC’s inception and continue to be a proud partner.”

Biddeford Savings Bank recently contributed $25,000, but other companies have stepped up as well.

“We are grateful to the business community and the foundations” that have donated, said Finkelstein.

To pay for the building, the YCCC Foundation and Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges have raised $2.8 million (of a $4.2 million goal). Along with a $3.4 million bond from the state, there is $6.2 million committed toward the $8.4 million needed.

Construction is already under way. It’s expected to be ready by fall 2017.