MKSD Architects of Orefield, Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. of Bartonsville, and Strunk-Albert Engineering of East Stroudsburg have been chosen to design Northampton Community College’s new campus in Pocono Township.

“It’s not often that educators and design professionals have a chance to create an entire campus from the ground up,” explains Northampton Community College’s president, Dr. Arthur Scott. “It has generated a lot of excitement.” Forty-eight firms from as far away as Baltimore and Boston submitted proposals.

All of the submissions – some hundreds of pages in length - were carefully reviewed by a committee of four staff members and one board member hand-picked for their expertise in construction management and finance. Based on the analysis of written proposals, seven firms were invited for interviews. According to Mark Culp, the College’s director of buildings and grounds, the firms were evaluated on six criteria: recent, direct experience with projects of a similar scope and budget; capability to undertake a project of this magnitude and complexity; comprehension of the project and College goals; demonstrated ability to plan, cost, schedule and manage; fee structure; and overall competence.

Chuck Hannig of Cresco who serves on Northampton’s Board of Trustees was on the review team. As a contractor, he has years of experience in evaluating building plans. “The caliber of submissions the College received was exceptional,” he says. “Some were from nationally known design firms. All of the finalists could have done the work, but what made MKSD’s presentation stand out was their understanding of Northampton’s mission and how that was reflected in their vision for the campus. The fact that they chose two well-respected local firms to handle the engineering is a plus for Monroe County.”

MKSD has worked with Northampton Community College before, designing the new athletic center on the Bethlehem Township campus, masterminding the conversion of the former plant offices for Bethlehem Steel Corporation into an educational and workforce development center on the south side of Bethlehem , and providing the plans for major renovations to the college bookstore, College Center, and meeting rooms.

Culp says the firm has consistently brought projects in on time and within budget , creating facilities that combine “flair and function.” The College has also been pleased with the firm’s collaborative approach to the design process. In the months ahead, staff from MKSD will meet with students, faculty, staff, board members and community stakeholders to learn more about their needs and hopes for the campus and to get their input on design concepts, including ways to make the campus as environmentally-friendly as possible.

The College hopes to be able to secure local and state approvals by next fall, to bid and select contractors and begin site work the following spring (2009), and to be ready to move to the new campus in the fall of 2010.

Until then classes will continue to be held at the College ’s current facility in Tannersville, in leased space at Fountain Court, Pocono Corporate Center East, and in classrooms provided by public schools, the Monroe County Vocational Technical School, and the Pocono Medical Center.

“It’s been a challenge to keep up with the growth, but it’s a great challenge to have,” says Dr. Matthew Connell, dean of Northampton Community College’s Monroe Campus. This fall close to 2000 students are enrolled in degree or certificate programs in the Poconos, an 80% increase over five years ago. When complete, Northampton’s new campus will be able to accommodate up to 5000 students as well as training programs for business and industry and meeting space for the community.

Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc., and Strunk-Albert Engineering will work with MKSD in doing the engineering for the new campus. Ranked as one of the “Top 500” engineering firms in the country by the Engineering News-Record, Herbert, Rowland & Grubic has a staff of 15 in Bartonsville. They will handle civil/site and environmental engineering. Strunk-Albert will provide mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, technology and security engineering from their office in Stroudsburg. Both firms have done work for the College previously. Herbert, Rowland & Grubic conducted the initial site study for the land on which the new campus will be built. Strunk-Albert Engineering was involved in the expansion of College’s present building on Mill Road in Tannersville. “The work of both engineering firms has been of very high quality,” Culp says.

Other firms who will be working with MKSD are Derck & Edson Associates of Lititz (campus master planning and landscape architecture), Pennoni Associates of Bethlehem (structural and geotechnical engineering), and Lam Partners, Inc. of Cambridge (lighting design).

The 71-acre tract of land on which Northampton Community College’s new campus will be situated is located in the geographic center of Monroe County, near both Route 715 and Route 80.

Read the Pocono Record article by Dan Berrett: "NCC selects architects to build new Tannersville campus."