Three Rivers breaks ground for new campus in Sikeston

By DONNA FARLEY ~ Daily American Republic

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Three Rivers College officials and guests moved the first shovelfuls of dirt Thursday morning as Sikeston broke ground on a dream more than 40 years in the making.

Community colleges build lives, officials there believe, and they have wanted one of their own almost as long as Three Rivers has existed.

"If there was ever going to be a day in your life when you're going to get a lump in your throat, this is that day," said businessman Scott Matthews, whose family donated about 70 acres for construction of the new Eastern Campus. "When you see everything finally come into focus now in 2013, this is one of the most exciting events I've ever been a part of."

Matthews joined Three Rivers president Dr. Devin Stephenson, state Rep. Steve Cookson (R-Poplar Bluff), college trustees, officials from New Madrid, Scott and Mississippi counties and other dignitaries in breaking ground on the project, which is expected to be finished in late 2014.

A new 40,000-square-foot building will be southeast of the U.S. 60 and U.S. 61 interchange. It will serve as many as 1,500 students with expanded degree and transfer programs, according to the college.

The center will include state-of-the-art computer and science labs, a bridge program for licensed practical nurses to finish registered nurse degrees, a learning resource center and an exhibit hall/auditorium.

The $7 million project includes a $750,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for a community safe room.

Stephenson told about 200 attendees at the ground-breaking ceremony that he first shared his vision of what could happen in Sikeston with the Chamber of Commerce almost four years ago.

"We believed then and we are more convinced now that our impact in this area would be a stimulus to economic development and would provide this entire region with the link that would connect us to and propel us into the future," Stephenson said.

The current Sikeston campus already is at capacity, according to the college. About 530 students enrolled when classes started in the fall of 2012. The increasing number of students studying at Three Rivers' various off-campus sites has come close in recent years to matching the number served at in-district sites.

The new campus will serve as an economic base and a proactive step to train people for employers who want to come to the Bootheel region, said Matthews, whose family has owned property on the south end of Sikeston for more than 100 years. Bringing jobs to the area helps ensure its children will not grow up and leave, he added.

"It's horrendous to watch small towns dwindle. … This is one way to keep this area from disintegrating," he said. "The people you educate will then come and give back to the community."

Cookson said he was impressed by the crowd and the excitement Sikeston has for this project.

"Anytime we are helping young people to have the opportunity to succeed is always a good thing," he said.

The number of people attending Thursday showed the excitement for this project in Sikeston, said board of trustees chairman Darren Garrison, who spoke before the ground-breaking.

"It was a great ceremony that showed the support for our college and what we are trying to do there," he said this morning.

It is important for Three Rivers to take higher education to all reaches of its service area, Garrison said. He said he knows patrons who live inside the taxing district are concerned about how much money is spent outside the district.

"Sikeston has always paid for itself," Garrison said, explaining the campus should easily reach an enrollment of 1,000 students.

He feels comfortable going back to the district he represents and saying the college is spending its money wisely in those areas outside the taxing district, Garrison said.