Montgomery County Community College

State and County officials and current and former trustees joined Montgomery County Community College on Sept. 9 in celebration of the recent launch of a multi-phase renovation of Parkhouse Hall. The facility has served as the College’s main classroom building since the opening of the Central Campus in Blue Bell in 1972. Scheduled for completion in summer 2011, the $15 million renovation project is funded through a combination of public support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the County of Montgomery.

Because of the College’s record enrollment and high demand for classroom space, Parkhouse Hall will remain in operation during construction. As a result, renovations will take place in seven phases, with project completion slated for summer 2011. Phase I of the project began in May 2009, and the College just entered phase II at the time of the celebration.

Features of the Parkhouse Hall renovation project include:

• Modernizing building systems to improve energy efficiency in keeping with the College’s commitment to a carbon-neutral and sustainable campus.

• Updating and modernizing classrooms to meet the teaching and learning needs of faculty and students. When completed, Parkhouse Hall will house 74 classrooms and computer laboratories fully-equipped with smart technology.

• Enclosing the existing courtyard and creating atrium space with a skylight and cafe, thereby creating gathering spaces to promote the interaction of faculty and students.

• Creating a separate entrance identity for the College’s Workforce Development and Continuing Education division, thereby positioning it to best meet the evolving needs of the community’s businesses and residents.

• Establishing a Center for Entrepreneurial Studies to encourage innovation among the College’s students and community residents and to act as an incubator to support start-up businesses in the area. The Center will offer credit and non-credit programming, degrees and certificates in areas such as management with an entrepreneurship option, new venture opportunity analysis and marketing, starting a home-based business, and boosting profits with email campaigns and websites.

• Enhancing the facility’s main entrances to make the building more welcoming to students and visitors.

• Enhancing space for 166 faculty offices along with a part-time faculty flex space to accommodate faculty growth in light of record enrollment over nine consecutive years. The renovation will also increase meeting space for faculty, students and community groups with the addition of eight conference rooms.

Parkhouse Hall is named in honor of Russell Parkhouse, who served as a Montgomery County Commissioner from 1960-1983 and who played a key role in establishing the College in Montgomery County.