The College rents 7,000 8 6 square feet in GBM and builds seven classrooms and a computer lab. FTE: 179 Six more classrooms are added at the mall. 8 FTE1194 GBM begins its daytime 8 8 program and adds another classroom and two more computer labs. FTE: 287 College administrators first 9 O discuss buying GBM. FTE: 408 March -— The Board 9 2 contracts Reynolds, Smith and Hill to conduct a feasibility study on buying Grande Boulevard Mall. May —— A state inspection of the mall yields positive results. September — The Board authorizes the College to begin negotiations with the seller and pursue PECO funding. FTE: 493 January The city of Jacksonville agrees to purchase a portion of the mall to serve as the public Im’rary? southeast branch. June —-— The Board approved lease terms and conditions for the purchase of the mall. December —— The city library decides against buying into the mall. The Board post— pones FCCJ’s purchase in light of this decision. FTE: 548 January —— At a special meeting, the Board votes against a motion to proceed with the purchase. February —— At the reschedv uled regular January Board meeting, the Board approves the purchase of the Grande Boulevard Mall for $3.75 million. 93 So, then, what took so long? To buy, or not to buy: that has been the question. For three years (off and on), the FCC] District Board of Trustees and College administrators have grappled with the decision to buy the Grande Boulevard Mall. The Board finally concluded their deliberation at their January Board meeting by approving the College’s purchase of the mall. FCC] administrators first began considering the idea of purchasing Grande Boulevard Mall in 1990 when enrollment began to soar (from 179 FTE in 1986 to 408 FTE in 1990). Over the following three years, College administrators and Trustees went back and forth on the issue (see above timeline). “Deciding to buy Grande Boulevard Mall was no simple process,” said Board Chairman Howard Kelley. “There were so many dynamics involved How would we finance it? Will there be enough parking?” The purchase was further complicated because two tenants, Jacobson’s and T'Birds, currently have leases with the mall. The Board was also concerned about the purchase’s effect on a potential FCC] campus in southeast Jacksonville. “We didn’t want our short—term gain to become a longeterm loss,” Kelley said. Once College administrators were able to answer these concerns, Kelley and the four other Trustees present at the January Board meeting, which was actually held in February, unanimously approved the purchase. Now there’s just one more small problem — what to call the building. “It can hardly be considered a mall anymore," Kelley said, “so we are trying to come up with a new name that better suits the facility.” Outlook A Publication of Florida Community College at 10 ‘Iorida (‘ommunily ‘ollegc Jacksonville i .___..____.._—— n... 6. State support “By owning the mall, we will get state support for building maintenance,” said Miner. 5. Location, location, location “Believe me, I’ve looked at every building in this area and whether it’s parking, cost or convenience, there is no better location than GBM,” Hannan said. 4. Recycling “If the College When FCC]’s District Board of Trustees approved the purchase of the Grande Boulevard Mall recently, their decision was based on a number of factors (10 to be exact). And though this Top 10 list might not be as funny as David Letterman’s, its impact will be much more meaningful. 10. The growth of enrollment Even today, when community college enrollment as a whole is down, GBM’s figures keep climbing (up 20 percent from last year, nearly 7,000 students). 9. The threat of eviction “If someone else bought the mall, we probably would’ve been evicted,” said Open Campus President Carol Miner. “We had no security for our programs or our students unless we bought it.” 8. The right price “If you divide the purchase price by the square feet, we’re paying less than $17 per square foot,” said Pat Hannan, director of the FCC] College Center at Grande Boulevard Mall (the going rate for buying mall space in Jacksonville is $50—$70 per square foot). 7. The time factor “To get a new campus up and running takes a minimum of seven to 10 years. We owe it to our students to do something in the meantime,” Hannan said. At GBM quite as definite. hadn’t bought the mall, it probably would have been torn down,” Hannan said. “It is a fine building, and the idea of reusing it rather than knocking it down and starting from scratch really appealed to us.” 3. Service to the business community “Because of Grande Boulevard’s location in the city’s financial center, it is uniquely positioned to meet the corporate demand for training and education," said District Board of Trustees Chairman Howard Kelley. 2. Growth of the area “According to the most recent census, this is where the growth of Jacksonville is,” Miner said. “With the influx of business, southeast Jacksonville is rapidly becoming a new downtown. And FCC] wants to be ready to serve this need." 1. Better service to students When all is said and done, the most convincing reason to buy the mall was to enable FCC] to serve students better. “Up until now we have had to import everything, including advisers. And the bookstore is only set up here for one week," Hannan added. “The extra space will certainly allow us to expand our student services, add student activities and serve our students in the most efficient and effective way possible." the future is now With the terms of sale finalized and the closing date just days away, Grande Boulevard Mall’s future as part of FCC] is certain. Specific plans for the center itself, however, aren’t Because there are so many factors to consider in renovating the building, FCC] administrators first asked the state for $900,000 in planning money. During the next year, the College will use these funds to determine how the 148,500 square feet of useable space can be used most efficiently. Aesthetically, the College hopes there won’t be too many changes, said Open Campus President Carol Miner. “We’d like to keep the best features of the building like all of the glass,” she said. “We want to maintain the essence of the building as much as possible while meeting state regulations.” In addition to architectural alterations, the purchase of GBM has prompted some changes in personnel location. “Some offices of Open Campus, which are currently located at Downtown Campus, will be moving to Grande Boulevard,” Miner said. “There haven’t been any firm decisions on who will move, but we are currently looking into it." More so than the planning process, the biggest challenge, Hannan said, will be maintaining the service to students. “It is our intent to continue to serve our students at the same level — even during the renovations," she said. “It’s going to be a real challenge.” The $9 million renovations are scheduled to begin in 1995. March 1994 Vol. 10, No. 3 Jacksonville reasons FCCJ acquired Grande Boulevard Mall Roger Breen, professor of mathematics, GBM “Buying the mall was a great learning experience and the experience has only begun! Mary Louise Shannon, professor of communications/ humanities, GBM “Most of us are looking forward to finally having a ‘normal’ College center. We’ve had to make do for so long, we feel like we’ve been camping out. Now we’re finally going to be living in a house with running water.” Sheilah Lynn, professor of computers, GBM “Because Grande Boulevard Mall is in such a tremendous location, we will be able to attract even more students who are interested in improving themselves and earning degrees . ” , OCR Text: The College rents 7,000 8 6 square feet in GBM and builds seven classrooms and a computer lab. FTE: 179 Six more classrooms are added at the mall. 8 FTE1194 GBM begins its daytime 8 8 program and adds another classroom and two more computer labs. FTE: 287 College administrators first 9 O discuss buying GBM. FTE: 408 March -— The Board 9 2 contracts Reynolds, Smith and Hill to conduct a feasibility study on buying Grande Boulevard Mall. May —— A state inspection of the mall yields positive results. September — The Board authorizes the College to begin negotiations with the seller and pursue PECO funding. FTE: 493 January The city of Jacksonville agrees to purchase a portion of the mall to serve as the public Im’rary? southeast branch. June —-— The Board approved lease terms and conditions for the purchase of the mall. December —— The city library decides against buying into the mall. The Board post— pones FCCJ’s purchase in light of this decision. FTE: 548 January —— At a special meeting, the Board votes against a motion to proceed with the purchase. February —— At the reschedv uled regular January Board meeting, the Board approves the purchase of the Grande Boulevard Mall for $3.75 million. 93 So, then, what took so long? To buy, or not to buy: that has been the question. For three years (off and on), the FCC] District Board of Trustees and College administrators have grappled with the decision to buy the Grande Boulevard Mall. The Board finally concluded their deliberation at their January Board meeting by approving the College’s purchase of the mall. FCC] administrators first began considering the idea of purchasing Grande Boulevard Mall in 1990 when enrollment began to soar (from 179 FTE in 1986 to 408 FTE in 1990). Over the following three years, College administrators and Trustees went back and forth on the issue (see above timeline). “Deciding to buy Grande Boulevard Mall was no simple process,” said Board Chairman Howard Kelley. “There were so many dynamics involved How would we finance it? Will there be enough parking?” The purchase was further complicated because two tenants, Jacobson’s and T'Birds, currently have leases with the mall. The Board was also concerned about the purchase’s effect on a potential FCC] campus in southeast Jacksonville. “We didn’t want our short—term gain to become a longeterm loss,” Kelley said. Once College administrators were able to answer these concerns, Kelley and the four other Trustees present at the January Board meeting, which was actually held in February, unanimously approved the purchase. Now there’s just one more small problem — what to call the building. “It can hardly be considered a mall anymore," Kelley said, “so we are trying to come up with a new name that better suits the facility.” Outlook A Publication of Florida Community College at 10 ‘Iorida (‘ommunily ‘ollegc Jacksonville i .___..____.._—— n... 6. State support “By owning the mall, we will get state support for building maintenance,” said Miner. 5. Location, location, location “Believe me, I’ve looked at every building in this area and whether it’s parking, cost or convenience, there is no better location than GBM,” Hannan said. 4. Recycling “If the College When FCC]’s District Board of Trustees approved the purchase of the Grande Boulevard Mall recently, their decision was based on a number of factors (10 to be exact). And though this Top 10 list might not be as funny as David Letterman’s, its impact will be much more meaningful. 10. The growth of enrollment Even today, when community college enrollment as a whole is down, GBM’s figures keep climbing (up 20 percent from last year, nearly 7,000 students). 9. The threat of eviction “If someone else bought the mall, we probably would’ve been evicted,” said Open Campus President Carol Miner. “We had no security for our programs or our students unless we bought it.” 8. The right price “If you divide the purchase price by the square feet, we’re paying less than $17 per square foot,” said Pat Hannan, director of the FCC] College Center at Grande Boulevard Mall (the going rate for buying mall space in Jacksonville is $50—$70 per square foot). 7. The time factor “To get a new campus up and running takes a minimum of seven to 10 years. We owe it to our students to do something in the meantime,” Hannan said. At GBM quite as definite. hadn’t bought the mall, it probably would have been torn down,” Hannan said. “It is a fine building, and the idea of reusing it rather than knocking it down and starting from scratch really appealed to us.” 3. Service to the business community “Because of Grande Boulevard’s location in the city’s financial center, it is uniquely positioned to meet the corporate demand for training and education," said District Board of Trustees Chairman Howard Kelley. 2. Growth of the area “According to the most recent census, this is where the growth of Jacksonville is,” Miner said. “With the influx of business, southeast Jacksonville is rapidly becoming a new downtown. And FCC] wants to be ready to serve this need." 1. Better service to students When all is said and done, the most convincing reason to buy the mall was to enable FCC] to serve students better. “Up until now we have had to import everything, including advisers. And the bookstore is only set up here for one week," Hannan added. “The extra space will certainly allow us to expand our student services, add student activities and serve our students in the most efficient and effective way possible." the future is now With the terms of sale finalized and the closing date just days away, Grande Boulevard Mall’s future as part of FCC] is certain. Specific plans for the center itself, however, aren’t Because there are so many factors to consider in renovating the building, FCC] administrators first asked the state for $900,000 in planning money. During the next year, the College will use these funds to determine how the 148,500 square feet of useable space can be used most efficiently. Aesthetically, the College hopes there won’t be too many changes, said Open Campus President Carol Miner. “We’d like to keep the best features of the building like all of the glass,” she said. “We want to maintain the essence of the building as much as possible while meeting state regulations.” In addition to architectural alterations, the purchase of GBM has prompted some changes in personnel location. “Some offices of Open Campus, which are currently located at Downtown Campus, will be moving to Grande Boulevard,” Miner said. “There haven’t been any firm decisions on who will move, but we are currently looking into it." More so than the planning process, the biggest challenge, Hannan said, will be maintaining the service to students. “It is our intent to continue to serve our students at the same level — even during the renovations," she said. “It’s going to be a real challenge.” The $9 million renovations are scheduled to begin in 1995. March 1994 Vol. 10, No. 3 Jacksonville reasons FCCJ acquired Grande Boulevard Mall Roger Breen, professor of mathematics, GBM “Buying the mall was a great learning experience and the experience has only begun! Mary Louise Shannon, professor of communications/ humanities, GBM “Most of us are looking forward to finally having a ‘normal’ College center. We’ve had to make do for so long, we feel like we’ve been camping out. Now we’re finally going to be living in a house with running water.” Sheilah Lynn, professor of computers, GBM “Because Grande Boulevard Mall is in such a tremendous location, we will be able to attract even more students who are interested in improving themselves and earning degrees . ” , Z ArchiveInABox,JAX,Outlook Newsletter,Outlook Newsletter 10-11,March 1994,P01 (11).tif, P01 (11).tif