We Value Bloomington-Normal

NORMAL -- Heartland Community College is considering a $60 million expansion plan that would almost double the campus’s size by 2010.

Officials on Friday laid out an aggressive timeline for erecting five new buildings, renovating several existing facilities on the 7-year-old campus, creating three athletic fields and adding 500 to 600 parking spaces. The new buildings would be a student center, fitness center, classroom building, multipurpose auditorium/business conference center, child-care center and receiving building.

Bidding the project all at once could realize a 3 percent cost savings, said Randy West of BLDD architects.

Heartland leaders say the project could be funded by increasing local property tax rates about 3.5 cents per $100 equalized assessed valuation. The College’s tax rate now is 40.5 cents per $100 EAV, which remains under the state average for community college district rates, officials said.

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