LBC to break ground for $11.9M academic center Tuesday

Next week, it will begin a second major construction project aimed at fulfilling them.

LBC will break ground Tuesday on the $11.9 million Charles Frey Academic Center.

The 49,000-square-foot building will house LBC’s online efforts, six of its seven core academic departments and 11 classrooms.

Completion is set for January 2016.

“This building will become our academic hub as well as our online nerve center,” said John Zeswitz, LBC executive vice president.

LBC, based on Eden Road, has seen its undergraduate enrollment rise 66 percent in the past five years to 1,100 students.

The surge has necessitated the renting of classroom space at four off-campus locations.

“We’d love to get all that activity back on campus, for the sake of the students,” said  Zeswitz.

Among the departments relocating to the new building will be communications.

It designs, develops and distributes LBC’s online courses. It also operates the campus radio station.

Among the other academic departments  moving to the new building will be business administration.

It too will get a new look, with its classroom space designed as offices and a board room to create a real-world setting for students.

Frey, who lives in Willow Valley Retirement Communities, retired as president of Turkey Hill Dairy in Conestoga in 1991.

He became an LBC trustee in 1990 and an honorary trustee in 2003.

Frey, a son of dairy founder Armor Frey, donated $2 million to the building project.

“He’s got a beautiful heart and a very philanthropic expression of that heart,” said Zeswitz, noting Frey has generously supported other local organizations too.

Horst Construction has won a $9.4 million contract to design and build the project.

The new Frey building will join a new $5.9 million residence hall under construction on campus.

The new residence hall, with 110 beds, is a 31,500-square-foot building intended to loosen another space squeeze.

“We’ve been at capacity (for residence hall space) for two years,” said Zeswitz.

To cope, LBC has rented off-campus apartments for some students. It also has put three students in some residence-hall rooms designed for two.

Source: Lancaster Online