Gateway Community and Technical College recently received a $100,000 grant from Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, trustee, for its Urban Metro Campus. Gateway is in the early stages of a more than $80 million development in downtown Covington.
Plans for Gateway’s expansion have been in the works for more than 12 years. The Urban Metro Campus is intended to make college education more accessible to residents of Northern Kentucky who live in urban river cities. Northern Kentucky is home to many high-tech jobs, and many residents can’t compete for those jobs due to lack of education.
Gateway announced its comprehensive plan in Nov. 2012, which involves the purchase of nine properties for the Urban Metro Campus. Phase 1 is underway, with the renovation of the former Marx Furniture store into the Gateway Design and Technology Center.
Three other facilities will also be renovated and occupied by Jan. 2015, with other properties to follow. In all, seven existing buildings will be renovated and one new facility will be built over the next three to six years.
To date, Gateway has raised more than $2.6 million of a $5 million initial amount set by the Gateway Foundation to support campus development and scholarships. The college has also supported development with $350,000 for its campus master plan and $10 million for Phase 1 development costs.
By Caitlin Koenig
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