New building in works for Crowder College campus

Enrollment for the fall semester is up 12 percent, and now the Neosho college is planning to build a 47,000-square-foot academics building to simplify the enrollment process, increase classroom space and replace the school’s library.

“This will be a one-stop shop for students to enroll,” said Alan Marble, interim Crowder president.

Marble said the first floor of the building will house a bookstore, academic advisers and financial aid and admissions offices. This simplifies work for students, who currently have to travel to multiple buildings for the enrollment process.

The first floor also will add approximately 340 classroom seats, mostly for the communications department.

Marble said the new library, which will be 50 percent larger than Crowder’s current facility, will take up most of the space on the second floor. Remaining space is allocated for a 450-seat comfort center for students, with a skylight overhead.

The new building will connect with McDonald Hall.

The project, which also includes a 40-foot bell tower to be built on the campus quad with a four-faced clock, will cost an estimated $9.5 million, with no cost to students.

Approximately $2.1 million came in the form of private donations, with another $2.4 million coming from the college’s building fund. The remaining $5 million has come from the sale of bonds through Edward Jones.

Marble said most of the bonds – about $3.5 million – were sold locally. The rest were sold throughout the state.

Crowder began accepting contractor bids on Oct. 5.

“It will be a beautiful campus when it’s finished,” Marble said. He added that he hopes to have the project completed by spring 2008.

A version of this story first ran in the Oct. 9 issue of Joplin Tri-State Business, SBJ’s sister publication.