Aims Community College wants to be part of the massive growth along north Interstate 25 by building a 30-acre campus near Berthoud.
The college bought a site for $5.2 million in hopes of taking advantage of the spiraling growth in southern Weld and Larimer counties. No firm opening date has been set, but the campus could be ready for students by fall 2010, said Marsi Liddell, president of the Greeley-based Aims system.
“We did a lot of investigating, and our studies show that our next college is best suited for the I-25 corridor,” Liddell said. “This is where the most expansion is likely to occur.”
Rapid growth forecast
Growth studies indicate that as many as 1.1 million people could live along north I-25 in the next 30 years – almost twice as many as live there now.
The new campus is at the northeast corner of I-25 and Weld County Road 44 and next to Wilson Ranch, a 1,600-acre master-planned community developed by McWhinney Enterprises LLC. McWhinney is the developer of the Centerra mall at I-25 and U.S. 34.
Aims currently has campuses in Greeley, Fort Lupton and downtown Loveland with a combined enrollment of about 14,000 students, Liddell said.
The Berthoud campus is expected to be the main west campus, but Aims does not plan to close the Loveland facility. “We have no intention of abandoning that campus,” she said. “We will be sitting down with the city of Loveland and deciding what expectations we have for that campus.”
Important for future
The prospect of a two-year college opening close to Berthoud is heartening to its residents, said Berthoud Mayor Milan Karspeck. “This project is another important step in building a sustainable future for our region,” Karspeck said.
Aims looked at eight sites before deciding on Berthoud, said officials.
Wilson Ranch will have an estimated 5 million square feet of commercial space and 4,000 homes over the next 40 years.
“We look forward to working with Aims and the town of Berthoud,” said McWhinney principal Troy McWhinney, “in helping them create a vibrant college campus.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
