(Ford City, PA) The bluish-green eyes of a college student who foresees a career in marine biology opened wide, she said, upon scanning its tan slatted wall to the right, its white geometric-shaped panels above and its asymmetrical blue chairs with USB ports to the left.
Butler County Community College’s $6.5 million BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City debuted to students the morning of March 13 as an additional location succeeding the original in nearby Manor Township.
Hailey Mores was the first student to arrive, 20 minutes before her college writing class began.
“Once I was in, I felt like I wasn’t in Armstrong County anymore,” she said. “It’s more of a modern building, and not a lot of buildings in Armstrong County are like that.”
A community grand opening from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 12 will introduce the public to a BC3 facility that other BC3 @ Armstrong students called “magnificent” and “inviting and futuristic.”
“They are going to be amazed at what it looks like inside,” said Mores, of McGrann.
“This place,” said Barthalow Reesman, of Dayton, “is magnificent.”
“It’s inviting and futuristic,” said Casey Sarver, of Kittanning. “I feel like more adults will want to go back and get a degree instead of only students right out of high school.”
It is also a “phenomenal example” of public-private support of higher education in Ford City and Armstrong County, said Dr. Nick Neupauer, BC3 president.
“And I really think that is what makes this so special,” Neupauer said.
Mores is a 2022 graduate of Lenape Technical School; Reesman, a 2022 graduate of West Shamokin High and Sarver, a 2022 graduate of Armstrong High. Reesman attends BC3 @ Armstrong toward a goal of becoming a high school teacher and Sarver, of becoming a hospice nurse.
Facility’s spaces are “enlightening and energetic”
The state-of-the-art facility at 1100 Fourth Ave., whose construction was financed by public and private funds, is located on the site of a former school, includes the name of a former state representative and is expected to increase commerce in the borough’s downtown.
The community grand opening will introduce the public to spaces that are “enlightening and energetic,” said David Harris, an architect with DPH Architecture, Canfield, Ohio, which designed the facility.
“Once I was in, I felt like I wasn’t in Armstrong County anymore. It’s more of a modern building, and not a lot of buildings in Armstrong County are like that.”
Hailey Mores, BC3 @ Armstrong student
“Combining the natural daylight throughout with refined interiors, I feel the occupants would have a sense of comfort and positivity when entering and utilizing the spaces in the building,” Harris said.
DPH Architecture also designed the expansion of BC3 @ LindenPointe in Hermitage, Mercer County; and the renovation of BC3 @ Cranberry in Cranberry Township and of the Amy Wise Children’s Creative Learning Center on BC3’s main campus.
BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City includes open ceilings, metal-paneled walls, brick and high windows.
“All those things go together to provide the atmosphere we wanted,” Opitz said.
The 1908 cornerstone is recessed behind glass, Harris said, “because of the industry that the town of Ford City was built on.”
At its peak, Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Ford City Works, was among the largest and most productive plate-glass factories in the world.
Building has “industrial look with a modern theme”
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 razed in 2018. A 4,500-pound carved stone from the front façade of the former school is incorporated into the facility’s reception counter, and its 1908 cornerstone into a lobby wall.
“Those pieces,” Harris said, “are important to the history of the building site.”
“One of the reasons I so love western Pennsylvania is that we are connected to our past and it is very important,” Neupauer said. “We do that very well at BC3 in honoring the past but forging ahead with the future.
“These are hallowed grounds here. This is very symbolic for the generations of families who attended high school at the location. And here it is coming full circle, that we now have education coming back on that location. But it is now higher education.”
Those who enter the facility “are going to see a good acknowledgment of what the site was once used for with the memoirs that we have in place,” said Brian Opitz, BC3’s executive director of operations. “They are also going to see an industrial look with a modern theme. A lot of elements in the facility keep the industrial feel, which is the heartbeat of Ford City.”
“These are hallowed grounds here. This is very symbolic for the generations of families who attended high school at the location. And here it is coming full circle, that we now have education coming back on that location."
Dr. Nick Neupauer, BC3 president
“We do this for our students”
BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City encompasses 15,000 square feet – 13,000 more than the dedicated space available at BC3’s former location at the NexTier Adult Learning Center in Manor Township, according to Opitz.
“What really caught me by surprise,” Reesman said, “is how big it is.”
BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City includes, among other areas, up to six classroom spaces, a natural science laboratory and student meeting areas, and is owned by the Nonprofit Development Corp., Butler, Opitz said.
It is also one of five additional locations BC3 has created to serve under-represented counties in Pennsylvania with higher education.
“I always enjoy an opportunity to say, ‘We do this for our students, the excellent young people who are going to be our future,’” Zapp said. “That’s who this building is for, Ford City, Armstrong County and the surrounding areas. It’s for the adults who want to become the professionals and the competent workers whom we are depending on for our future.”
BC3 announced plans to relocate BC3 @ Armstrong to Ford City in October 2019.
“It’s inviting and futuristic. I feel like more adults will want to go back and get a degree instead of only students right out of high school.”
Casey Sarver, BC3 @ Armstrong student
The State Rep. Jeffrey P. Pyle Building
Among speakers at a ceremonial groundbreaking for the facility in September 2021 was former state Rep. Jeff Pyle, who also served as mayor of Ford City and as a history and American government teacher at Ford City Junior-Senior High.
Pyle passed away in September.
The facility of BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City will be named the State Rep. Jeffrey P. Pyle Building.
Pyle was instrumental in helping to secure a $1.75 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant toward construction of the facility in January 2021. Site preparation began in January 2022.
An additional $2 million state RACP grant toward construction of BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City was one of two grants awarded to Armstrong County projects in October.
“While Jeff won’t be here to see those efforts come to fruition, they are just a small part of the legacy he has left to all of us,” state Sen. Joe Pittman, R-41, said in October.
The new BC3 facility, Pittman said, will address a critical need for dedicated classrooms, learning spaces, computer rooms and a science and chemistry laboratory.
“This state-of-the-art facility will not only benefit students,” Pittman said, “but it will be a major boost to downtown invigoration efforts, increase tax revenue and help to market Armstrong County.”
Added state Rep. Abby Major, R-60, in October: “BC3 was Rep. Jeff Pyle’s vision. I’m pleased we are able to assist with making this project a reality. While I had hoped he would be present for the grand opening in the future, his memory will live on in this college campus.”
"We do this for our students, the excellent young people who are going to be our future. That’s who this building is for, Ford City, Armstrong County and the surrounding areas."
Karen Zapp, BC3 @ Armstrong director
The RACP grants brought to more than $4.2 million the amount of public and private support for construction of the facility.
Armstrong County commissioners contributed $250,000. The BC3 Education Foundation received gifts of $100,000 from Snyder Associated Companies, Kittanning; of $70,000 from BelleFlex Technologies and PulFlex Technologies, Ford City; and of $50,000 from NexTier Bank, toward construction of the facility.
Refreshments will be served at the community grand opening.
RElated EVEnt
FAFSA Workshop: BC3 @ Brockway
April 29 @ 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Financial Aid staff at BC3 can help you navigate the FAFSA filing process during our upcoming workshop on Monday, April 29 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at BC3 @ Brockway.
RSVP Now! April 29 @ 12 p.m.
Learn more at bc3.edu/FAFSA.
Details
- Date:
- April 29
- Time:
-
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- Series:
- FAFSA Workshops
- Event Categories:
- Admissions Event, Important Dates, Student Event
- Event Tags:
- Admissions Event, Announcements, Brockway, Events, Financial Aid, Important Dates, Student Event Admissions, Student Support, Students
- Website:
- bc3.edu/fafsa
Organizer
- BC3 Financial Aid
- Phone
- 724-284-8509
- financialaid@bc3.edu
- View Organizer Website
Venue
- BC3 @ Brockway
-
1200 Wood St, Suite D
Brockway, PA 15824 United States + Google Map - Phone
- (814) 265-1813
- View Venue Website