BC3 @ Armstrong opens $6.5M Ford City facility
MANOR TWP — Faculty member Karlee Holmes’ midterm exam asked a question about cellular respiration.
Then, about k-selected species and r-selected species.
Austin Kennedy and Sadie Jageman, BC3 @ Armstrong students, printed their answers in the designated spaces.
The environmental biology course March 2 was the last of 364 to be instructed at the site in Manor Township, Armstrong County, established in 2015 to serve a Pennsylvania county underrepresented by higher education.
Outside Conference Room 114, in the hallway of the NexTier Adult Learning Center that BC3 @ Armstrong shares with other educational occupants, were 22 filled cardboard boxes.
Near those cardboard boxes stood a March “countdown to the move!” calendar.
Following spring break, students will relocate Monday to the $6.5 million BC3 @ Armstrong facility in Ford City, in which the college will be the sole occupant.
“It’ll be something of our own,” Jageman said.
On March 2, Kennedy and Jageman were nearly the last of 684 students in the past 7½ years from 95 ZIP codes to leave the learning center on what Karen Zapp, campus director, called a “nostalgic” day.
“I’m feeling that way because of all the nice memories that we have had here in this building, and all the students who have passed through here on their educational journey in this unique setting of coziness,” said Zapp.
“Those will be my memories, of the students I got to know here, and then, thinking about the new beginning.”
Part of that new beginning is construction of a natural science laboratory whose presence will end the need for college representatives to transport the 18 bins of owl pellets, dissection probes and lichen to campus in advance class.
“It will be nice to have our own lab and to be able to have students go just from one room to the next,” Holmes said.
BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City is located on the site of the former Ford City Junior-Senior High School, which closed in 2015 and was demolished in 2018.
“When the high school was here, we had a lot of traffic with parents and kids being in here for different things,” said Tammy Dowling, co-owner of Miller’s Hoagies. “Most businesses were a lot busier because of that. So getting a school back is going to help everyone in town.”
The college was recognized in 2018 with an Economic Development Impact Award from the Lawrence County Regional Chamber of Commerce and Lawrence County Economic Development Corp. for BC3’s additional location in New Castle. It also received in 2011 a Phoenix Award for Growth in a Large Industry from the Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce for BC3’s additional location in Hermitage, Mercer County.
BC3 announced plans to relocate BC3 @ Armstrong to Ford City in October 2019. The college held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the facility in September 2021 and site preparation began in January 2022. Plans for a community grand opening will be announced this month.
The state-of-the-art BC3 @ Armstrong, 1100 Fourth Ave., Ford City, will encompass 15,000 square feet — 13,000 more than BC3’s dedicated space in Manor Township, according to Brian Opitz, the college’s executive director of operations. The Nonprofit Development Corp., Butler, owns the building, Opitz said.
BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City includes, among other areas, up to six classroom spaces, the natural science laboratory and student meeting space, and incorporates in its lobby the 1908 sandstone keystone of the former junior-senior high school.
“So many cool things,” Zapp said. “It’s really very modern and lovely. The blues and the grays are beautiful. There’s the keystone. The memories from the Ford City school. And the student area where they can meet will be awesome.”
Students “are going to be impressed,” said Kenny Houser Jr., of DiMarco Construction, Clairton, and the site superintendent of BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City. “The design team did a fantastic job on this building.”
DPH Architecture, Canfield, Ohio, designed the building.
“It’s super-modern,” Holmes said. “It looks great. It draws your attention. … I think it is going to really push a lot more students to want to go there to continue their education.”
Her student, Jageman, 20, of Kittanning, expects to graduate with an associate degree in secondary education-English option from BC3 in December.
“A lot of the friends who I went to high school with, and my new friends, we all love that BC3 is so close,” Jageman said. “We are very family-oriented and we like to spend our time and money at a place that appreciates us.”
Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
