Next summer, Robert Morris College will move its main campus to the former Sears Roebuck and Co. store on State Street, helping to breathe new life into an area being dubbed the “education corridor” by local development officials.
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Renovation of the former retail store at 401 S. State St. will begin this month to handle the college’s bulging enrollment, which jumped by 7 percent each year over the last three years, according to Vince Norton, vice president of enrollment services at the college. The 84-year-old private, four-year college, which has more than 3,000 students, is now headquartered at the Heitman Center, 180 N. LaSalle St., where the school leases 85,000 square feet.
“We are running out of space here,” Norton said, “so we are happy to put something back into the State Street area.”
The new campus, which will be double the size of the old one, will be located on the south end of State Street in an area becoming more known for its college presence. Robert Morris’ campus will be next door to DePaul University’s South Loop campus and across the street from the Harold Washington Library. Nearby on Michigan Avenue are Roosevelt University and Columbia College.
The area is being called the education corridor by the Greater State Street Council, which also is supporting plans for an entertainment/theatre district at the north end of State Street.
Norton said college officials have signed a 15-year lease and will outfit the new building with an expanded library, computer and laboratory facilities as well as more classrooms. The $15 million renovation will be paid for with a bond issue, he said. The college also has campuses in Orland Park and Springfield and will open a new campus in Naperville in February.