By Joshua Phelps
The Scene staff
St. Louis Community College has sold and vacated its headquarters in downtown St. Louis, and some district employees have found new homes on the Forest Park campus.
About 25 departments left the Cosand Center this spring. Of those, 10 moved to Forest Park.
“We all moved to new locations,” said Communications Manager Nez Savala, who now is at Forest Park with the rest of the marketing and communications staff.
Other departments settling in at Forest Park include career and technical education; central student records; curriculum, assessment and international education; enrollment management; enrollment operations; institutional research; registrar; transcripts; and student affairs.
The college originally had planned to house some Cosand Center employees, including Chancellor Jeff Pittman, in the new Center for Nursing and Health Sciences, which is under construction at Forest Park and scheduled to open next year. But that plan has changed.
“The new building is for health sciences,” Savala said. “There were discussions a while ago, long before I got here … It was possible that the fourth floor would be (used as an) office and administrative place for the college, but that’s not going to happen.”
Another former Cosand Center employee who has moved to Forest Park is Nicole Dutt, the district’s transfer articulation specialist. She handles incoming college transcripts and also serves as Missouri reverse transfer coordinator for STLCC.
Dutt’s new office is on the second floor of the Student Center, near advising. Before joining STLCC, she worked on a Jefferson College campus.
“I was used to being on a campus, so being at the Cosand Center was a little different,” she said. “I still liked it, but I’m really enjoying being back on a campus. I think I will probably see students much more now.”
Dutt also missed having access to a library and cafeteria at the Cosand Center. At Forest Park, she’s near both.
As far as changes in Dutt’s working conditions, it’s a mixed bag. She had her own office at the Cosand Center, but no windows. Now she works in a cubicle, which means less space, but she has a skylight.
“Nothing has been negative (at Forest Park),” Dutt said. “Everyone has been very nice and accommodating to everyone who’s still trying to figure out how to get around on campus.”
Colleen Phillips, district coordinator of alumni relations, moved from the Cosand Center to STLCC’s Corporate College location on McKelvey Road in Bridgeton. That facility is dedicated to corporate education and professional development.
Phillips was at Forest Park on July 11 for a meeting. She described Corporate College as easy to navigate, and her work habits have largely remained the same. Parking is much easier.
But commuting has gotten more complicated for Dutt, who rides MetroLink. Now she has to transfer from train to bus at the Central West End station.
“With the Cosand Center, it was nice because … it’s a straight shot,” she said. “I got on at UMSL North (and got) off right at Ballpark Village. So there was no changing.”
Phillips and Dutt liked working in downtown St. Louis, but they’re glad to be away from “baseball traffic.” The Cosand Center was directly across the street from Busch Stadium.
“After the Cardinals game, it was very hard to get out of the building, let alone to your car,” Dutt said. “I was kind of getting sick of smelling the hot dogs.”
Cosand Center staff started moving to other STLCC locations in March.
Eight departments went to the Corporate College building, including the STLCC Board of Trustees and chancellor’s offices. Other departments landed on the Meramec and Florissant Valley campuses and at Harrison Education Center.
The Cosand Center was at 300 S. Broadway. The brick building will be demolished to make way for a 33-story apartment complex, according to a Feb. 26 story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.