It's official … the new Career Technical Education (CTE) center to serve students from Macomb, Bushnell and Colchester school districts, as well as adult learners in the region, will be housed at Spoon River College's Macomb campus, with an anticipated opening date sometime during the 2027-2028 school year.
The CTE Center, when built, will be located on the former Finn property on the east side of the East Jackson Street campus. SRC purchased the property last year. The major sticking point in the discussions among CTE Committee members over the past 12 months was the location: MHS grounds or SRC-Macomb. The majority of the CTE Committee wants it built on Spoon River's Macomb campus; however, Macomb's superintendent explored all avenues to build the center on the high school campus.
At Monday's meeting of the Macomb Board of Education, Superintendent Mark Twomey told the Board that he had heard back from Ameren officials regarding the possibility of moving a sub-station on Macomb High School grounds to accommodate the potential building of the CTE at MHS, and due to the cost, the high school was no longer an option for the CTE.
'I had provided letters of support to SRC for two state grants totaling $9 million to locate the CTE at Spoon River, and I guess there was a silver lining in that as Ameren recently called to let me know they had to 'kick' the request up the chain of command regarding moving the substation on our property. They have to move that up the ladder when a project is over $1 million,' Twomey explained. 'The cost to move the substation does not make building the Career Technical Education center here feasible.
I feel like I did my due diligence for the school district. If I could wave a magic wand and have it here, I would, but as it turns out the expense is too great to justify having it at Macomb High,' he added. 'But, I'm satisfied with the outcome.'
Members of the regional CTE Committee include representatives from the Macomb School District, Spoon River College, MAEDCO, the City of Macomb and Bushnell and West Prairie school districts. Now that a location has been settled on, the committee will apply through the state as a regional technical education center. An intergovernmental agreement between the Macomb School District, BPC, West Prairie and SRC will be created to define the shared decision-making process about curriculum, enrollment availability and operations of the center.
'On April 29, Spoon River College submitted a grant to DCEO for the Manufacturing Training Academies Grant Program. This grant, if awarded, would provide capital funding to establish the advanced workforce training facility at SRC in Macomb,' said SRC President Curt Oldfield. 'This facility will provide career and technical education opportunities to regional high school students and community members to launch careers in advanced manufacturing, automotive repair and building trades, and explore engineering careers.
'Spoon River College is joining forces with regional employers, school districts, Western Illinois University and workforce development partners to close the skills gap by preparing west-central Illinois residents for careers and entrepreneurship in the region's most critical industries,' Oldfield noted.
Costs & Financing
Even with the CTE center being located on SRC's campus, the Macomb School District will provide funding for the new center; however, it will be a far lesser investment than the center being located on the Macomb campus. Projected revenue streams will come from tax revenues brought in by Camp Creek Wind Farm, along with bonds, the one cent sales tax, federal grants and other sources, such as private funding and donations.
