A groundbreaking for a $17.5 million expansion of Malcolm X College’s West Campus in Austin is set for Thursday.
The event will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday at the former West Side Learning Center, 4624 W. Madison St.
Originally billed at $9.5 million, the expansion will include a 3,000-square-foot Community Center for Training and Learning, which would increase student capacity on the satellite campus by 50% to 2,000, while also serving as an events space. It comes as all seven City Colleges have seen an increase in enrollment, with a nearly 17% increase at Malcolm X College for the fall of 2024.
The state is picking up at least $5 million of the bill, and City Colleges will largely cover the rest.
It’s the second of a three-phase expansion plan for the campus that mostly serves nursing students. The first phase started in 2018 when biology labs and updated furnishings were added at a cost of $5 million.
“We wanted to ensure that the facility matched the quality of the education that we are providing,” David Sanders, president of Malcolm X College, told the Sun-Times when the project was announced in 2023.
Contributing: David Struett