Five years after approving a temporary move to Bishop Miege North, Johnson County Community College officially began the process of leaving. Except it will not return to a new location at Mission mall as it planned. It will withdraw from Roeland Park to a second off-campus facility at King’s Cove office park located south west of the facility in Merriam. In their May 19 board meeting, trustees approved a new contract with King’s Cove that will shift the BMN classes to that location.
JCCC began offering classes at Mission Center Mall in 2002. When 50 year-old mall was demolished in 2006, JCCC authorized offering classes temporarily at Bishop Miege North. JCCC planned to return to a new Mission mall that would have included a proposed aquarium. However that project has been delayed for more than five years with no deal in sight.
In order to accommodate the almost 500 students who used the Mission Center Mall location, JCCC rented approximately six classrooms at BMN and made several improvements to the site including replacing the electrical system, adding lighting, building an accessible restroom, replacing chalkboards with white boards and painting the classrooms.
BMN was not the only site JCCC considered. Trustee Lynn Mitchelson lobbied for JCCC to partner with the University of Kansas Medical Center on Shawnee Mission Parkway just a few miles away from the Mission Center mall site.
Flier noting JCCC’s move from Mission Mall to Bishop Miege North in 2006:
Read JCCC’s press release: