Hillsborough College is scrapping its original relocation plan for the North Dale Mabry campus and sending classes to other sites while the property is prepared for the proposed Tampa Bay Rays stadium.
At a City Council meeting Thursday, HCC President Dr. Ken Atwater said students will not be placed in temporary buildings at The Nest, the site the college had originally planned to use during construction. Instead, classes will be held at the University of South Florida’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation in downtown Tampa and in office buildings at Tampa Bay Park, which is less than a mile from the current campus.
The Nest will still be used for administrative and student services, along with the library and bookstore.
Atwater said the college chose the revised plan because it did not want students learning in portable classrooms beside an active construction zone. "You're going to [have] portables.
You're going to be right next to a big construction project that's going on. How will that negatively impact our learning?"
Atwater told council members.
HCC also said it plans to add shuttle service to help students deal with transportation, parking and scheduling issues tied to the move.
The changes are already landing with mixed reactions. Some students say they can adjust if the classes and support services remain available. "As all the courses are still available, and we're able to have access to everything that we need, I don't see it as a problem," said HCC student Theresa Rodriguez.
Others aren’t convinced the college should be juggling relocation at all while the stadium project advances. Laura Lawson, whose daughter attends the college, said the school should have been rebuilt before the stadium deal moved ahead.
"Reconstruction of the college should have happened before the stadium gets built, but instead they've got it backwards," Lawson said, adding that she worries the college’s educational mission is getting pushed aside. "I believe that that core mission of the college is being compromised because it has become subordinate subject to this RAYS stadium plan."
The North Dale Mabry campus serves between 22,000 and 27,000 students, and the revised arrangement will affect where they take classes, how they get around and how they access college services during construction.
Atwater said the upheaval could eventually lead to something better for the college. "The opportunity to actually have brand new 21st century learning spaces, I mean, I like to say this, it's a generational opportunity for us to do that," Atwater said.
Thursday’s council meeting also brought another step forward for the stadium proposal itself, as members approved a $21 million community benefits package needed for the deal to keep moving. The Rays are set to provide that money to the community over the next five years.
HCC says it will keep working through the logistics of the move, including transportation plans, as the stadium process continues.
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