By DAILY JOURNAL STAFF REPORT
Oct. 8-9, 2005
Indiana Wesleyan University plans to make Greenwood home to a new campus.
The university announced plans Friday for a $4.5 million expansion project that will bring its 13th regional site to Johnson County, offering space for as many as 1,000 students to continue or finish management and business programs.
A two-story, 27,000-square-foot building will be built on five acres along Interstate 65, northwest of the Main Street exit, a university spokesman said.
“This is a growing area that’s the right size, has the interstate visibility we want and the right access,” said Hank Kelly, Wesleyan’s assistant vice president of planning and development. “It had all the pieces we were looking for.”
An estimated 277 students would immediately be able to attend classes Monday through Thursday and on Saturday, based on university projections, Kelly said.
Indiana Wesleyan has conducted classes in 52 Indiana communities, including four hotel and conference centers in Greenwood, he said.
Students currently meet in classes at Community Church of Greenwood on West Main Street, Holiday Inn Express near County Line Road and Emerson Avenue, Valle Vista Country Club and Lee’s Inn near I-65 and Main Street.
University officials have been researching a southside Indianapolis campus for months but did not think Marion County or spots near Interstate 465 were suited because of size and location, he said.
Instead, they looked south toward Johnson County.
The university has been negotiating to buy the land for about a month and received approval last week from the board of trustees, Kelly said. A purchase agreement is pending, but he did not know who owns the undeveloped land.
The building is expected to be completed in the fall of 2006. It will be the school’s eighth campus in Indiana. Kelly hopes to start designing the building before winter and start construction in spring.
Greenwood Mayor Charles Henderson was surprised to hear about the new campus and said he has not discussed a campus with Wesleyan administrators.
“Anytime you can have specialized educational facilities, that’s an asset to the community,” he said. “I’m excited to hear about this, and it’s good news for Greenwood.”
A new campus could help lure new businesses to the city and county, he said.
“That shows we have a way to train their people and our own residents who might be working for them,” Henderson said. “That’s a powerful incentive.”
No plans had been filed with the city by Friday afternoon to construct a building.
With an enrollment of more than 2,500 students, Indiana Wesleyan’s enrollment has doubled in the past 15 years, and the school has spent more than $100 million on new campus buildings, according to the school’s Web site.
Students would be able to take classes in the adult business program for associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degrees in computer information, management and education, Kelly said. A program for registered nurses to finish their bachelor’s degrees also would be available, he said.
The new Greenwood campus is part of a $28 million expansion project that also includes construction on the main Marion campus. Plans for that campus include:
A 36-bed townhouse, which is under construction and is expected to be finished in August.
A 67,000-square-foot academic building to house TV studios, classrooms and offices for the communications department. Construction will start April 1 and should be finished in August 2007.
A three-story, 300-bed residence hall, with a similar construction timeline as the communications building.
The university opened a two-story center near Interstate 74 in Shelbyville on Oct. 18, 2004.
Portions © 2005 The Daily Journal, Johnson County, Indiana
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