It is often said that a college is much more than buildings and grounds. Faculty and staff are the heart and soul of a college, while students are the nourishing lifeblood and its reason for existing. Alumni and friends — including business and community partners — are integral to any institution of higher learning. The curriculum, athletics and friendships should never be underestimated.

Unless you pursue a degree 100 percent online, however, buildings and grounds do play an undeniable role in first and lasting impressions.

Much of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station has been transformed into a very promising college campus.

We’re not talking about a small extension site or satellite center. Five large buildings on 20 acres, complemented by a ball field, tennis courts and ample parking areas, comprise the Midcoast Campus of Southern Maine Community College. Four of the buildings form a quadrangle surrounding a parking lot that is easy to envision as a beautiful green space some day, a traditional college commons with walking paths landscaped by horticulture students and sculpture by art students.

It’s amazing how well the Navy’s physical facilities, with a few modifications, suit the needs of a college. Briefing rooms become classrooms and auditoriums and work areas become laboratories. The Bachelor Officers’ Quarters will make a beautiful student residence hall. I like to imagine that during World War II, as Naval officers designed their new base at Brunswick they said to each other “Let’s lay this out so it can be easily transformed into a college someday.” Perhaps the sermon in the chapel that Sunday had been titled “Swords into Plowshares.”

None of this is new for SMCC. In 1952, the decommissioned Fort Preble became our South Portland campus. Former Gov. Joseph Brennan told me that, as a high school student, his summer job was to scrape the fort’s old paint so a fresh coat could convert artillery-planning spaces into classrooms.

Renovations are finished on three of our five buildings in Brunswick. The Maine Advanced Technology and Engineering Center houses our composites and pre-engineering programs, including our strong partnership with the University of Maine. Working closely with the Maine Composites Alliance, and thanks to a grant from the Maine Technology Institute, we’re proud to meet tomorrow’s work force needs with the finest composites characterization laboratory north of Boston. The MATEC building also includes chemistry, physics, advanced machining and materials science labs.

The Academic Building includes multipurpose classrooms and computer labs as well as a 100-seat auditorium with the latest multimedia capabilities. In quarters formally occupied by the Judge Advocate General, you’ll now find SMCC’s Maine Fire Service Institute.

Little work was required on the impressive suites of the former Bachelor Officers’ Quarters. The first floor of this huge building now sports an art studio and nursing classroom/laboratory, along with an academic testing center, lounges and administrative offices.

Some of these will move to the Learning Commons and Health Science Center when we renovate the former BNAS Clinic. This building will be the hub of the campus, housing the library, bookstore, café and a host of academic and support services. In the same building, we will train future health professionals in biology labs and a medical simulation lab made possible by generous donors. Across the campus, many spaces and equipment attest to the critical support provided by individuals, corporations and foundations that recognize SMCC is building tomorrow’s economy.

Finally, the former flight simulator building’s open spaces make it suitable for many of SMCC’s 47 degree and certificate programs, from heavy equipment to liberal arts. To complete this building, as well as the Learning Commons and Health Science Center, we’ll need access to our bond funds that were approved by voters in 2010 yet are currently frozen.

To secure the success of the Midcoast Campus, we’ll also need to secure an appropriation to fund the Midcoast Campus into the future and to increase support to our growing college.

While the number of students studying at SMCC has grown tremendously over recent years, funds provided by the state have been stretched, and support per student has declined by nearly half.

During our first year in Brunswick, 370 of SMCC’s 7,574 students are pursuing degrees at the former BNAS. We plan to have at least 2,000 students here once we renovate our remaining two buildings.

Last month the Midcoast Campus had its first evaluation visit by our accrediting body, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. We were congratulated for helping to revitalize the former Naval Air Station, making it a magnet to attract business and industry while allowing residents an opportunity for a college education that might not otherwise be possible.

Much good can be done with buildings and grounds.

RONALD CANTOR is president of Southern Maine Community College.