Copyright M Live Michigan
HART, MI - A Northwest Michigan community is looking ahead at future opportunities as it gets a satellite location for the local community college. An old grocery store in the city of Hart is being turned into a satellite location for West Shore Community College, which is based in Scottville, just east of Ludington. The Gales grocery store, at 710 S. State St., is a 26,000-square-foot building and has been vacant for a couple years, said Mitchell W. Foster, vice president for administrative services at the college. Construction is expected to begin in January, by Wieland construction company out of Lansing. Architecture design is being done by Abonmarche. “It works perfectly for our purposes,” Foster said of the large, now gutted, building. “It allows for us to really get creative for how we build it out.” The goal is to open by September 2026, just in time for the fall semester. The college plans to offer several courses at the location, as well as create a community space that is planned to include several tenants including: Lakeshore Food Club, which provides healthy, discounted food for low-income residents Stella’s Coffeehouse, which will have a drive-thru on the side of the building Michigan Works West Central, a job-seeking network based in Shelby that is relocating to Hart Mid Michigan Community Action Agency, also moving from Shelby, provides wraparound support for residents, including utility assistance, food and early childhood education There will also be community meeting rooms available to the public. “We can really make it into a pretty incredible community space,” Foster said. He said with it being located on the “main drag” of Hart, the location is surrounded by residents and is near downtown and several fast-food restaurants. College leaders expect the location to not only cater to Hart residents, and recent high school graduates attending the college, but also local employees looking to “take the next step in leadership management,” Foster said. Those could be tech-based courses, such as about the Microsoft program Excel, Foster said. There will be courses offered in the areas of arts and science and occupational courses, such as EMS and EMT courses. The community ESL (English as a second language) course will be relocated to Hart. The college purchased the property in summer 2024 and, since then, has been securing funding through tax credits and grants. Foster said that includes a $1 million community center grant from the state, $400,000 from the Sixty by 30 state grant program, $150,000 from Hart’s Tax Increment Financing Authority, a $300,000 state allocation and potentially $1.4 million in tax credits through Michigan Community Capital. The total project is expected to cost $6.3 million. Foster said the college saw success in their Manistee satellite location, a similar, community-forward concept, and decided to do it again in Hart. The Manistee location opened in 2021 and saw around 1,200 community room rentals in its first year open. “Hart, and Oceana County, are in a community college desert,” Foster said. “Making a space like this available to them is really important to the president and the board. “We know this has been a conversation topic for at least a decade - ‘How can West Shore Community College get into Oceana County?’” Foster said future opportunities could include dual-enrollment classes for Oceana County high schoolers. “We’re really trying to be as creative as we can to help those students take the next step in their lives and careers,” Foster said. The average student age at the community college is 27 years old. “We have a number of students mid-career or early career coming in for advancement in their education,” Foster said. “And a number of students straight out of high school for one to two years to get their associate’s and then move on to university.” West Shore has a direct connection with Ferris State University’s nursing program, and many students transfer to area colleges like Grand Valley State University, Central Michigan University, Northern Michigan University and the University of Michigan. Foster said the community college has a strong arts, music and theater program and sees a lot of students follow those passions when they transfer schools.
