Waubonsee Community College
Bringing Life to Your Area
Since its opening in June 2011, the Downtown Extension campus has brought new life to the heart of Aurora's downtown. It has transformed an entire block of underused buildings into a new state-of-the-art multi-use educational campus. In just a year, it has served nearly 9,500 students, while also hosting numerous educational and municipal events. Sitting on the banks of the Fox River, the project Includes a 'Foxwalk' pedestrian area and parking on the site's river frontage and streetscape architecture defined by the existing urban fabric.
The design for this $24M, 4-story, 131,000 square foot facility offers a diverse array of classrooms and offices. Students at the new campus are now learning in specialized classrooms including chemistry and biology labs, numerous computer classrooms, a certified nurse assistant (CNA) lab, a sign language, and interpreter training lab, among other unique learning spaces.
The facility also provides a tech-centered library, full-service bookstore, early childhood center, grab-and-go café and coffee bar, and media-ready multipurpose room. The multipurpose room, which is available for rent for professional meetings, has become a valuable asset for the downtown community.