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College classes to start soon?

Cincinnati State wants to conduct engineering courses in the CG&E building by the end of the month.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 1:27 AM Sunday, April 17, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — Downtown may gets its first taste of what it will be like to be a college campus soon as city and Cincinnati State officials are hoping to hold college classes here by the end of April.

According to Greg Pratt, a city of Middletown consultant working on the college campus project, school officials are working out the details to hold engineering classes in the former CG&E building on Main Street. “We’re waiting to hear back to make sure it will work, but I think everyone is interested in doing it and making it work,” Pratt said.

However, at the Middletown NAACP banquet Saturday, college President Dr. O’dell Owens said he thought April might be “too soon” for classes, but added he is eager to build a presence in Middletown.

“I am not sure it is going to happen (in April), but I am going to have to talk to some people in engineering,” Owens said.

No final financial agreement has been reached between the city and Cincinnati State to date. Pratt, who has a contract with the city through August, said officials hope to reach a deal by this summer so the college could offer a substantial number of courses downtown by this fall.

Previously, Dan Cayse, Cincinnati State’s vice president of strategic initiatives and entrepreneurial development, said the school was working on cooperative agreements with Butler Tech and Middletown City Schools in order to more quickly bring class offerings to Butler County.

The city has spent $450,000 from the Downtown Improvement Fund to obtain buildings for use by Cincinnati State. The school has been focusing its intention on using the CG&E, former Middletown Senior Center and the Manchester Inn. Those buildings total 175,000 square feet.

The CG&E building has one current tenant. Casper & Casper is leasing office space on the fifth and sixth floors.

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