Higher education center plans third building

Friday, Nov. 9, 2007

The 24-acre facility is across the street from the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport in California, home to 35 classrooms and 93 academic programs, mostly for master’s degrees in technology fields and in education. There were 2,149 students attending classes at the school in fiscal 2007, and the school continues to grow, said Mel Powell, executive director. St. Mary’s residents make up 54 percent of the students, said Joseph F. Anderson, chairman of the board of governors and a former county commissioner. The student body has grown by 54 percent in the last decade.

Since 1996 the school has conveyed about 1,000 degrees, Anderson said.

The facility is most heavily used at night by students who work during the day full time, but is also used during the day and through the weekend for community purposes.

So now is the time to proceed with plans for the third of five buildings in the higher education center’s master plan. The third building would be two stories, adding 11 classrooms, a conference center and an auditorium. It would also be in compliance with the neighboring airport’s airspace. The school already has a 135-foot tall antenna, which connects to the University of Maryland system in College Park.

The new building would also be environmentally friendly, with a grass lawn growing on top. An estimate made last year puts the cost at $15 million and Powell said the school has requested $900,000 for architecture and engineering in fiscal 2009, but needs approval from the Maryland General Assembly. The Southern Maryland Higher Education Facility will be competing with other colleges throughout the state in building project money.

Powell called the third building a ‘‘small project, but a very large payoff.”

While they would be contributing any money to the project, the St. Mary’s County commissioners sent off a letter Tuesday to the state citing their support for it.