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The facility will be ‘one-stop shopping’ for education, workforce development and community services
WSCC News is a presentation of West Shore Community College in partnership with Mason County Press.
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
HART — A vision that has been over a decade in the making will soon become reality when West Shore Community College’s Oceana Community Education Center opens its doors this fall.
The community center is tentatively slated to open in mid-to-late October, said WSCC Vice President of Administrative Services Mitchell Foster. “If we have any delays, that could push it into the early part of November.”
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“We are very excited about it,” said Foster as he gave OCP a sneak peek of the $6.5 million project. The facility is currently being called the Oceana Community Education Center, but the name has not been finalized.
Housed in what used to be Gale’s IGA grocery store, the community center will offer several services, ironically one of which is a grocery store.
Lakeshore Food Club is a non-profit grocery store that offers food options for low income families. Qualifying members pay a low 30-day membership fee and select food using points based on household size.
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Lakeshore Food Club is one of three anchor tenants, which also include West Shore Community College and Michigan Works West Central. Michigan Dyslexia Institute, the Mid Michigan Community Action Agency and Stella’s Coffee House will also be located inside the building.
The front part of the 25,000-square-foot building will serve as an opening gathering space with soft seating and computer desks for Michigan Works clients “or if somebody wants to come in and just work at a station.” The center will also include offices, group rooms, a computer classroom and conference space.
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Oceana County students taking classes at WSCC may be able to use the computer room to attend class during wintry weather instead of driving up to the main campus in Victory Township near Scottville. “If the roads are really bad, they can come here; take the course; and feel like they’re in person.” Local companies will be able to rent the computer room for computer-based training.
Michigan Works West Central will move from its Shelby office into the facility. “They will be staffing the front desk. There will be a bilingual staff at the front desk.”
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There will be a warming area for caterers on site for company conferences and training. The catering area, Lakeshore Food Club and Stella’s, which will have a drive-through window, will be located on the south end of the building.
“That is a big part of why we got some additional funding sources is because of Lakeshore Food Club,” said Foster. “Adding food access to a community like Oceana County is a big deal as groceries continue to get more expensive.”
There is some additional space for non-profits or businesses to meet with clients. The site offers 82 parking spaces.
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The $6.6 million total project was funded through a $1 million community center grant from the State of Michigan; $1.9 million from Michigan Community Capital and PNC Bank through a new market tax credit; a $400,000 grant from Michigan Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP); and $150,000 from the Hart Downtown Development Authority. The college contributed approximately $3.5 million in reserve capital to complete the funding.
“A community center in Oceana County has been a vision for WSCC President Scott Ward for several years,” said Foster. “With the resounding success of the model proven in our downtown Manistee education center, this project brings education, workforce development, and community services together in a community-focused space.”
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A workforce development study, in which the college was involved, performed a few years ago by the Oceana County Economic Alliance and identified the need for more workforce training, which was a catalyst that sparked further interest.
The Michigan Labor and Economic Opportunity grant for $1 million awarded for the project really got the ball rolling. The grant push was led by Nichole Kleiner, who is now Hart city manager, but was the HEART (Hart Economic and Redevelopment Team) director at the time. Shortly after that, Foster was hired by the college and put in charge of the project.
A total of $60 million was on the table for community centers by the State of Michigan, said Foster. “There were 1,000 initial requests that came in totaling over $1 billion. The state awarded funding to 99 projects. The fact that the college received $1 million speaks to the support and impact of this project.”
Wieland is the project’s main contractor, and Abonmarche is the project’s architectural firm. The project superintendent is Jerry Risch. Hallack Contracting Inc. of Hart is the site and land contractor for paving and landscaping services.
Gale’s IGA closed its doors in 2018 after 76 years of business. It then operated briefly as Hart Village Market in 2022.
A grand opening will be scheduled as the project gets closer to completion.
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