ONTARIO – Treasure Valley Community College received its most sizable grant yet for the construction of the Evelyn S. Dame Nursing and Allied Health Professions Center.
In a Thursday, March 19, press release from the Treasure Valley Community College Foundation, the foundation announced it received a $400,000 “top-off” grant to go toward the construction of the new facility from the Vancouver-based M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.
According to the press release, the funding is contingent upon the completion of the proposed project.
The building, slated to open by the spring of 2025, will cost the college $12.8 million.
Last month, Cathy Yasuda, foundation executive director, said the foundation is continuing with its fundraising efforts. In October, college officials cut building features to save $1 million after costs climbed by nearly $2 million.
The college received $5 million in 2015 from the state for the 30,000-square-foot building. The school was required by the conditions of the state grant to match funds by February, 2023. In December 2022, the college was informed it would get $3 million through federal legislation.
“This is the first grant we have received from Murdock and we are extremely grateful for being one of the few public two-year community colleges to receive a grant of this size,” Yasuda said in the press release.
Yasuda said last month that the foundation is seeking donations to fund programs at the new nursing facility. The college wants to expand its emergency medical service offerings.
“We are grateful to Murdock’s generous support and investment in this new facility that will meet the current and future healthcare needs in our region,” Yasuda said.
Yasuda said the college is over a month away from going out to bid with contractors to begin work on the facility. The grant, she said, gives the college a financial cushion should construction prices increase.
You always want to have some cushion with a big construction project like this,” she said. “Because there are so many moving parts and variables and the cost could be greater than you anticipated.”
She said the school had completed the plans with the architect and that the college would schedule a groundbreaking ceremony some time this spring.
She said the ceremony would be a “huge community event,” and everyone would be invited to attend.
With nearly 50 students enrolled in the nursing program, college officials estimate that enrollment will jump to roughly 65 when the nursing center is complete, according to Molly Lightfield, a college nursing instructor.
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