Ivy Tech has entered into an agreement to rent out about 4,200 additional square feet at its Shelbyville site in order to relocate certain classes.
Ivy Tech’s state board of trustees recently approved an addendum to the college’s lease at the Shelbyville Intelliplex, said Stephanie Amos, vice chancellor of Johnson and Shelby counties. This will allow the area’s campus to relocate its Advanced Automation and Robotics Technology program over to that facility from the Blue River Career Center.
“We are super excited to make this investment, because there is the Advantage Shelby program there that we are trying to really bolster up that area and support them with their efforts to provide free education for everybody,” said Columbus Chancellor Steven Combs. Shelby and Johnson counties were added to Ivy Tech-Columbus’ service area in 2021.
Vice President of Capital Planning and Facilities Amanda Wilson said that the addendum adds 4,256 square feet to the college’s current 8,107-square-foot-lease. While the lease rate on their current space is approximately $5.80 per square foot, the new space’s rate will be about $10 per square foot.
“We would start paying lease costs after our initial investment for the buildout has been recouped,” she said during a meeting of the board’s building and grounds committee. “So we don’t anticipate actually paying the lease for a few years.”
Amos said that the college does not yet have an estimate on the costs of that buildout, as it has just started to engage with architects on this project.
“Also, with the cost of materials right now, with the supply chain cost, it’s really hard to determine,” she said. “But we’re just now in the initial stages of talking with the architects and getting that information and building out the scope of what the project’s going to look like.”
According to Amos, Advanced Automation and Robotics Technology is the only program relocating to the Intelliplex, and the move includes both the early college program and traditional students.
“This would add to the Ivy Tech location so all of our students are together,” said Wilson.
During the committee meeting, state trustee Gretchen Gutman asked if the relocation would pose a logistical challenge to local schools.
“How many students come to the career center from the Shelbyville School Corp. to take this program, and are we moving ourselves even further away?” she said. “I mean, I get the fact that this is probably a lot more attractive space, greater opportunity, all of those wonderful things, but also appreciate the fact that you’ve got a built-in enrollment at the career center.”
Combs replied that the college has worked closely with local superintendents on a solution.
“They’ve made an investment to move their equipment to this facility, because they see this as an upgrade that they are not able to provide,” he said. “And they would like to provide their students with a more college-like experience, so they’ve actually even volunteered their buses to bring the students to us. When they sign up in the Blue River program, they’re going to make sure that they show up at our location.”
