Gateway Moving Programs From Amsterdam Road Campus This Fall; Many Relocating to Covington Metro Campus

Gateway Community & Technical College today announced the programs it expects to relocate to the Urban Metro Campus by the start of the Fall 2014 semester, which begins Aug. 15.

In separate emails to employees and students, Gateway President/CEO Ed Hughes said the college will move nearly all of the programs now taught at its existing Covington/Park Hills campus on Amsterdam Road to the new campus being developed in downtown Covington.

The Gateway Community & Technical College Foundation is currently transforming the former Marx building at 615-622 Madison Avenue into the Gateway Technology and Design Center. The renovation work being done by Century Construction is slated to be finished this summer, enabling the college to expand its offerings at the downtown campus.

After a dozen years of discussion, planning and activity, our move to the Urban Metro Campus will take a huge step forward beginning this summer as we implement the next phase of development, Hughes said, noting the moves will occur in three phases by the end of 2014.

The transition represents a very exciting opportunity for our faculty, staff, students and the community we serve, he added. The Urban Metro Campus offers many unique advantages; most importantly for our students, the renovated historical buildings will contain state-of-the art teaching and learning centers.

In the first phase of the relocation, five programs will move to the developing campus from the Amsterdam Road location. These programs include business administration, computer and information technology, criminal justice, education, and interdisciplinary early childhood education. The instructional design and learning technology program and the visual communication program currently housed at Odd Fellows Hall also will relocate into the Technology and Design Center in time for fall classes.

In addition, the college will add many more classes in general education at the Urban Metro Campus; these are designed to enable students to transfer to senior institutions. Our goal is to have in place the classes most students need to complete their general education degree requirements without their having to travel to one of the other Gateway campuses, Hughes noted.

In the second phase of the process, the colleges Amsterdam Road bookstore operated by Barnes amp; Noble will move into newly renovated space at 614 Madison Ave. That move is expected to be completed in November. Hughes said he will maintain office space at this location, just as he did at the Amsterdam Road campus.

The third phase will take place in December and January after the renovation of a building at Fifth and Scott streets formerly occupied by the Abode Furniture store. There the college will house the cosmetology and massage therapy programs together to create a student-led urban spa. Hughes noted that many of the graduates from these programs eventually own their own businesses. As part of the students education, the creation of a spa environment will give students a unique chance to learn how to operate a business, he said.

In related moves, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and plumbing technology programs will relocate to the Boone Campus in Florence this summer. Hughes noted that the move will cluster most of Gateway's technology programs together in one location that offers increased efficiency in delivering common technical courses needed for most of the technical programs.

The colleges programs in automotive, diesel and collision repair will remain at the Amsterdam Road campus for the time being. We are currently exploring appropriate locations for the relocation of the transportation programs but we have no announcement at this time, Hughes said.

Hughes stated that by the end of 2014-15 academic year the Amsterdam Road campus will be closed. That campus has served us well for many decades, but it is isolated and its facilities are beyond their normal life expectancy. Vacating it will pave the way to sell the property and utilize the proceeds to help develop the Urban Metro Campus.amp;rdqrdquo; Hughes wrote. The college is expected to begin marketing the Park Hills/Amsterdam Road campus property later this year.

The entire urban region and especially the downtown Covington community are welcoming our new campus with open arms as a bold investment that will transform Northern Kentucky. We are excited about the opportunities the Urban Metro Campus will provide our current and future students, Hughes said.