Tri-C plans 32-acre Westlake campus
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published May 7, 2008

Cuyahoga Community College plans to buy 32.9 acres of vacant land at the corner of Bradley and Clemens roads to establish a Westshore campus.

Tri-C officials applied for a change in the city’s zoning code to allow a college or university on the property, which is in Westlake’s exclusive industrial zoning district. An ordinance amending the zoning code was introduced at Thursday’s City Council meeting and referred to the Planning Commission.

Tri-C will pay $4.6 million, or about $140,000 per acre, to Bradley Associates for the property, which is located just north of I-90. The institution’s board of trustees gave its approval to the sale March 27. The State Controlling Board approved the sale last month.

The college plans to build three buildings on the property with 186,000 square feet for classrooms and laboratories.

College leaders say the new campus is needed to serve the needs of students in the Westshore suburbs.

“Western Cuyahoga is a growing area of the county,” said Dan Minnich, executive director of media relations at Tri-C. “We see that there is a potential for a growing student population and we want to serve it.”

Patricia Rowell, the president of Cuyahoga Community College’s Western Campus in Parma, told Westlake’s Planning, Zoning and Legislative Committee April 29 that the city’s industrial district would be ideal for a new campus.

Mayor Dennis Clough said he was pleased that the college has decided to invest in the city.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for Westlake and the students in the entire area,” Clough told West Life. “I think it’s going to be a catalyst for the entire western portion of Cuyahoga County.”

Ward 1 Councilman Ed Hack, the chairman of the Planning, Zoning and Legislative Committee, agreed.

“It’s an enormous educational benefit,” he said.

Tri-C’s existing Corporate College building on Center Ridge Road will remain operational and focus on non-credit courses, said Courtney Clarke, Tri-C’s marketing manager.

Because Tri-C is a public institution, it will not pay property tax on the 32 acres, which ironically will take money from the Westlake City School District.

A Westshore campus would aid the city through income tax paid by 100 to 400 Tri-C employees, Hack said.

A Tri-C campus would not detract from the city’s industrial district because much recent development there has been warehousing rather than manufacturing, Hack said.

Clough and members of council expressed concerns about the effect a Westshore campus would have on traffic in the area, especially considering current traffic issues at the I-90-Crocker interchange and the intersection at Bradley and Detroit roads. Cuyahoga Community College will pay for a traffic study, Clough said, to determine what improvements will have to be made to manage the increased traffic that a new campus will likely bring.

In a memo to Planning, Zoning and Legislative Committee members, Westlake Planning and Economic Development Director Bob Parry said the proposed location, while presenting a traffic challenge, is a good match for the proposed campus.

“The proposed location along I-90 ... would not only give the community college excellent exposure but would provide a high-value  image along I-90 within Westlake that is likely to be of much greater value than a warehouse or loading areas which would be very visible along the I-90 frontage,” Parry wrote. “A college in Westlake would provide access to an excellent educational facility for Westlake students and the entire Westshore.”