Community building

Lansing Community College has been making some changes — and if you’ve driven by lately, it’s hard not to notice. The new, two-story windows that overlook Adado Riverfront Park are the most noticeable change, but public art and minor renovations have transformed almost very corner of its downtown campus.

This academic year will be the first full year since the renovation of the Gannon Building. The $18 million project includes renovated classroom and office spaces and a one-stop, computer-based student service center modeled after the Apple Store concept — complete with roving staff members ready to assist students. But the biggest part of the project — both in terms of square footage and visual impact — is the Commons, a new dining area featuring sleek design and the huge windows looking out over Grand Avenue.

The space is dominated by white and gray, and clean lines abound — the ghost of Steve Jobs would approve — and it has all the trappings a millennial could ask for. Big-screen TVs show a mix of sports, news and campus updates, and electrical outlets with USB outlets for phone/tablet charging line nearly every wall. A game station even gives students a chance to blow off some steam by playing video games in between classes. (A locked-down Wii, Xbox and Playstation 4 are available. Controllers can be checked out by the hour, students must bring their own games.)

Oh, and there is food. Pizza Hut, Subway and Einstein Bros. all have franchises in the space, and there are two other campus-run food stations.

Lindsay Coker, Hayden Asher and Collin Curtis lounged on the large staircase that leads into the expansive new dining commons Thursday afternoon, finishing their lunches. Coker, a third-year LCC student, was impressed with the new space.

“I think it’s really cool,” she said. “It feels more welcoming.”

Curtis and Asher, both first-year students, have classes this semester in LCC’s Arts and Sciences Building, which was also recently renovated. They both said that the renovated classrooms create a better learning environment.

“There’s a huge difference,” he said. “It’s more pleasant.”

“It puts you in a better mood,” added Asher.

First-year student Zack Remington, however, said that the quality of the classes was “more about the teacher” and downplayed the importance of the new facilities. His tablemates, first-year students Jordan Philips and Dakota Edington, nodded in agreement.

While the trio wasn’t sure how much the new facilities improved the classroom experience, all three were impressed by the new dining commons area.

“It’s really awesome,” Remington said. “The environment is really nice for college.”

Edington appreciated a space to hang out between classes.

“I don’t feel stuck on campus,” he said. “It gives you something to do.”

“It is very nice,” added Philips, but he also noted that the improved facilities didn’t factor into his decision to attend LCC. Coker also said that the renovations didn’t affect her decision.

“I was already going to come here,” she said.

This was a refrain that I encountered with every student I talked to. While students generally seemed to appreciate the renovations, no one cited the renovations as the main factor in choosing LCC. The most important factor to the students I met was the school’s relatively low tuition, but some also cited the campus’ location as a critical factor.

The renovations are largely the vision of Brent Knight, the university’s president. His aggressive campus improvement projects include not just building improvements, but also an influx of public art and an emphasis on landscape beautification.

Knight sees projects in virtually nook and cranny of campus. Friday morning, as he prepared to dedicate the campus’ newest piece of public art, he pointed out an 8-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep trough dug into a former sidewalk and parking lot space that stretches the entire block of Shaiwassee Street between Seymour Street and Capitol Avenue. That stretch will become a “green belt,” he said, a line of trees and plants that will function both as an aesthetic improvement to the stark parking lot and an environmental improvement, soaking up runoff from the parking lot that would otherwise make its way down to the Grand River.

By improving the quality of the campus experience, Knight hopes that students will stay on campus longer and take advantage of resources like tutoring sessions and the college’s library. Community spaces like the Commons and the Arts and Sciences building’s Learning Commons are designed to keep students on campus and give them opportunities to gather with other students.

“Research shows that if students have relationships, they are more likely to persist and complete (their programs),” Knight said. “The more they stay, the more likely they are to be successful.”

Knight also believes that these projects are a public statement, showing the community the college’s commitment to the subjects it teaches.

“We teach history, design, art and architecture,” he said. “These are the values we have as a college.”

And while it’s easy to balk at the projects’ big price tags, Knight is proud to say that he has maintained one of LCC’s biggest recruiting advantages.

“Our tuition is the lowest among Michigan’s community colleges,” he said.

Michael Steibel started taking classes at LCC in 2012. He graduated with an associate’s degree in music earlier this year but is taking classes at LCC this semester to prepare for a transfer. In his tenure at LCC, he has endured the construction hassles of the Gannon Building and Arts and Sciences building renovations.

“I feel indifferent about (the renovations),” he said. “It’s nice to have some changes on campus, but it creates a lot of confusion. You get frustrated at times.”

Even last week, with classes already in session, work crews were still out in full force. Fences and orange cones were up all over campus as workers smoothed concrete sidewalks and backhoes pushed around piles of dirt. Temporary signage and campus safety officers directed students through the maze of construction.

While Steibel hasn’t noticed much difference in terms of the classroom experience, he does appreciate having a new community space on campus.

“Every time I walk through the Commons area, it’s full,” he said. “You look forward to walking through it.”

And while he appreciates the investment in the campus, Steibel looks at the big picture — including declining enrollment and rising tuition — and wonders about the long-term value of these renovations.

“You see teachers getting cut, and there are fewer class options. It’s definitely on people’s minds,” he said. “People look around, they know these projects cost a lot of money. Sometimes it makes you wonder.”