By Brynna Henika, photojournalist.
During Delta’s Board of Trustees meeting Nov. 8, the college’s upcoming Saginaw Satellite campus revealed its definite location. Out of nine tentative sites it was decided, and passed, that the Satellite Center will be on the 300 block of East Genesee Avenue.
“It’ll be nice to see some new life downtown,” says sophomore, Mike Vela, General Studies major from Saginaw Township.
The center will include a total of 11 classrooms, science and computer labs, and training rooms. With the 24,000 square foot space, it is anticipated to have a minimum enrollment of 1,250 people.
As of this year, it was discovered that 41.2 percent of Delta’s enrollment consists of students from Saginaw, or its surrounding counties.
The goal of the new campus is to not only increase the amount of students in attendance, but to improve the facilities Delta’s Saginaw center has to offer. When built, this downtown location is aimed to replace the Ricker Center, which is located in Buena Vista Township.
Delta’s Satellite Center will also provide students an abundance of commodities, such as: nearby parking, six STAR bus transits, and access to Hoyt Library and a future farmer’s market that is also coming to the downtown Saginaw area.
“It will definitely be helpful, especially when it’s really bad out in the winter…” says Erika Bucher, who is currently in her last year in Delta’s Physician Assistant Program, about the new location and its ease of access for students in the city and the surrounding county.
Since the decided location is owned by the City of Saginaw, many plans for construction are still tentative until its City Council meeting on Nov. 21. The estimated budget is set at $12,7 million. Once the agreement has passed through Saginaw’s City Council, construction is set to start, weather pending, in March of 2018.
