College of DuPage - Expansion

Expansion

COD has expanded much over the years. Initially there were temporary buildings on the West side of the campus, and they are still up today. The first permanent buildings were constructed on this site in the 1970s. The first such building was A-building with the first two of its three floors opened for use in the fall of 1973. The A-Building was later named the Instructional Center, or IC building, and is now named the Rodney Berg Instructional Center, or BIC, after the College's first President. Others to follow were the Seaton Computer Center (named for a prominent COD Board trustee) or SCC, the Art Center (now the McAninch Arts Center, named for the College's second President) also called The MAC, the Student Resource Center, or SRC, and the Physical Education Building.

Currently the facility master plan calls for expanding the campus. Under it the Early Childhood Education Center, or ECEC building, was built, and the Health & Science (HSC) and Technology Education Centers (TEC) buildings opened during the summer of 2009. The college library is located in the SRC building.

The College campus has undergone an Architectural and Landscape renaissance over the last five years. Facilities have been renovated and new buildings built to provide state-of-the art facilities for virtually all academic and administrative departments. The projects are briefly described below: Technology Education Center (TEC). This new 178,000 square feet (16,500 m2) building, completed in 2009, houses the Automotive Technology, HVAC and other technology department programs in a new steel, glass and precast concrete panel building on the West side of campus. The building was awarded LEED Silver.

The 475,000 square feet (44,100 m2) BIC Renovation (Phase one completed 2011) and new 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) Student Services Center (SSC) (completed 2011) received a complete makeover, including a reorganization of faculty and administrative departments, expanded student commons, updated classrooms and labs, and the addition of the new Student Services Center which now connects the SRC and BIC with a large naturally lit commons, a new coffee shop (Starbucks) and easily accessible ‘one-stop-shop’ student services offices and operations. The renovation and Student Services Center replaced the deteriorating BIC exterior with a new, modern panel and glass exterior and bright interior spaces.

On the East side of campus, the new 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) Culinary and Hospitality Center (CHC) (completed 2011) houses culinary kitchens and bakeries, a six room boutique Hotel run by students of the Hospitality program, two gourmet restaurants open to the Public, a culinary amphitheater and the colleges TV station and video production departments.

The 66,000 square feet (6,100 m2) Homeland Security Education Center (Phase one completed 2011) is the first facility of its kind in the midwest. It houses the Criminal Justice program, the Fire Science/EMS program, the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, and the COD police department. The facility features an Immersive Interior Training Lab, forensics and cybercrimes labs, an auditorium that doubles as a mock courtroom, a self contained breathing apparatus lab, and a debriefing room.

Landscape projects on campus have also been performed to introduce new gardens, decorative plantings and exterior student environments.