WELLS — In 1997, three years after it was established, York County Community College erected the first – and so far only – classroom building on campus.

Twenty years later, a new academic facility is expected to be completed and ready for students, the college announced Thursday.

A capital campaign to raise $4.2 million toward the $8.4 million price tag of the project is underway. An additional $3.6 million for the project will come from a state bond, with the remainder from college reserve funds and a loan.

A groundbreaking is scheduled for May on the 18,000- square-foot building, which will include eight classrooms, a 140-seat lecture/performance hall, a developmental math and English lab, and collaborative space where students will be able to work together as they would in the workplace.

Students will begin using the facility in fall 2017.

A feasibility study for a new building began in 2014, said YCCC President Barbara Finkelstein. That fall, the process to obtain a building permit was started, a process that was finally completed in February of this year.

When the process began, the existing facility, which was designed to hold 1,100 students, was already over capacity.

As the student body continues to grow – enrollment at the school has increased 108 percent in the last decade – more than 1,750 students attended courses in fall 2015.

“It needs the space,” said YCCC board member and capital campaign Co-Chair Chris Magnuson. “It’s bursting at the seams.”

Magnuson, who is also president and CEO of the manufacturing company Wasco Products Inc. of Wells, donated $75,000 to the capital campaign, which has already raised $2.6 million.

“As the owner of a manufacturing business, we certainly have a need for an educated workforce,” Magnuson said. Some of his workers have taken courses at YCCC through Wasco’s tuition reimbursement program, and the company has employed college interns.

In addition to the immediate benefit his company gets from YCCC, Magnuson said, “I believe in lifelong learning. It’s great people have the opportunity to start an education or continue an education or retrain. It’s just such a good resource for the county.”

Finkelstein is hopeful people will be generous in giving to the campaign. The community college provides an important resource to York County, which is where the vast majority of the student body comes from, she said.

Community colleges fill a niche that other college and universities can’t, she added. For example, the flexibility of community colleges makes it more accessible to students who work as well as attend school. According to Finkelstein, 73 percent of the students enrolled in YCCC’s more than 30 degree and certificate programs attend part-time.

It also fills the needs of a wide range of students. Although the average student age is 26, YCCC classes, which include a mix of liberal arts and career and technical courses, fit the needs of high school students who get both college and high school credit, traditional students and even senior citizens.

Other benefits of the school include the small student-toteacher ratio, which averages 15 to 1.

Then there’s the cost. Each credit hour costs $90, “which makes us a real bargain in today’s economy,” said Finkelstein.

For more information on the campaign, contact Elizabeth Fitzgerald at yefitzgerald@yccc.edu or 216-4466.

— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.