McHenry County College Invites Community to Building B Grand Reopening

McHenry County College cordially invites community members to attend “MCC Transformed,” a grand reopening of the College’s Building B, on Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 5-7 p.m. to celebrate the recent renovation of the College’s cafeteria and commons areas.

The Building B renovation includes a remodeled café and seating, commons area, private meeting room/breakout space, and a new culinary teaching laboratory to support the Culinary Management program. One of the most utilized and high-traffic areas on MCC’s main campus, Building B has been transformed to expand educational programming, offer healthy convenient food options, and create more space for both students and community members to work and gather.

According to the 2011 McHenry County Labor Report, the hospitality field is one of the key emerging areas for jobs in 2011-2015. McHenry County College officials anticipated this growth by launching a Culinary Management program in 2009 and adding a full Associate in Applied Science degree in Fall 2011.

“The program’s continued growth has created a need to accommodate more students and enhance career training with larger, onsite classroom and lab space,” said Christina Haggerty, chief communications officer. “With the new Culinary Teaching Laboratory, including state-of-the-art ovens and baking equipment, the program has more than doubled in enrollment.”

“Because of the new quality facility, Haggerty continued, “culinary faculty can better train and educate their students on the newest industry trends and techniques, and create more awareness of the program’s capstone class—the student-run restaurant that will reopen in Spring 2013.”

Future culinary expansion is possible and college officials are currently exploring the opportunity to offer a full associate’s degree in Baking and Pastry.

The revamped MCC Café is more than just a place to grab a bite to eat in between classes. Extensive analysis around student success indicates that the more students stay on campus and get involved both inside and out of the classroom, the more likely they are to succeed. Annual MCC student satisfaction surveys have shown that students need more places on campus to study, interact and relax. In addition to featuring environmentally friendly practices and sustainable products, the café offers a new pizza oven with pizza made fresh to order and new snack and dining options, including nachos, popcorn, paninis, grab-n-go hot and cold items, value menu and a wide array of coffee drinks. A new point-of-sale system to expedite checkout and full-service catering for meetings and events is also featured.

The Commons offers private and group seating arrangements, wireless access and better use of space for student life activities and community events.

Multiple meeting rooms have been updated for a better experience for attendees. In addition, the College’s Public Safety/Police Department has been relocated next to the Building B entrance to promote better visibility and access.

Reopening
event highlights include:

5-7 p.m. 

• MCC culinary students
  will serve assorted hors d’oeuvres and desserts
• Cooking/cutting demonstrations by MCC
  Culinary Management chefs and advanced students

5:45 p.m.

• MCC president Vicky Smith,
  Ed.D. and other officials will give a brief address to commemorate the space.

The event is free and open to the public. The College is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14 in Crystal Lake. For more information, contact the Office of Marketing and Public Relations at (815) 455-8562.