Renovations are coming along at Schenectady County Community College’s downtown Albany satellite campus, which is located in the Albany County offices on State Street as part of a partnership with the county.
On Monday, Oct. 28, SCCC Board of Trustees Chairwoman Denise Murphy McGraw and Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy showed off the improvements that have been made to the space.
“They’re going to be out shopping and looking for things to eat, things to do down here, especially if they are taking night classes. So it’s going to be a great partnership.”
- Albany County Executive Dan McCoy
The 10,000-square-foot area on the second floor of the Albany County Office building is set to be ready for classes when the spring semester starts Jan. 22, 2014. Drywall has been hung and other improvements are set to begin.
“We are excited to see the transformation progress of our new Albany extension site that will make higher education and career training opportunities more accessible for students,” Murphy McGraw said.
Students will be able to park at the Times Union Center parking garage. The campus is also on a bus line and the school plans to coordinate bus schedules with the main Schenectady campus class schedule. This will allow students to take classes at both campuses.
Murphy said new shops have opened up in areas surrounding SCCC’s satellite campus across from Proctors in Schenectady, and she hopes the same thing will happen in downtown Albany.
“Let’s face it, Albany was going in the right direction, but because of the recession in 2008 things have kind of stalled down here and downtown has turned into a bit of a ghost town at night. So now you’re going to have college kids down here, hopefully up to a thousand starting next year,” said McCoy. “Two things are really going to affect this area. They’re going to be out shopping and looking for things to eat, things to do down here, especially if they are taking night classes. So it’s going to be a great partnership.”
The facility will have 24-hour security and classes will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Two-year degrees offered at the site will range from paralegal to casino and gaming associates degrees.
