City Colleges Breaks Ground On New Health Sciences Campus

CHICAGO (STMW) -- City Colleges of Chicago broke ground Wednesday on a new $251 million campus for Malcolm X College, which will also serve as a hub for the system's healthcare programs.

The new 500,000 square-foot campus at Jackson Boulevard and Damen Avenue will open to students in January 2016, according to a release from City Colleges.

Located near the Illinois Medical District, the building will also house School of Health Sciences, with a virtual hospital and simulations labs, college officials said. The facility will also provide space for general and adult education programs.

The new building will be able to accommodate 20,000 students -- or 6,000 more than the current Malcom X College campus across the street.

The project is part of City College's five-year, $524 million capital plan, which will invest across its system of seven colleges.

At Wednesday's groundbreaking, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Cheryl Hyman said the new campus will help prepare Chicagoans for careers in the growing healthcare field.

Roughly 950 jobs will be created because of the construction project, which is scheduled for completion in late 2015, the release said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)