While there were no shovels or hardhats like one would expect to see at a traditional groundbreaking ceremony, leaders with Southwestern Michigan College gathered nonetheless Wednesday to celebrate one of the college’s largest endeavors yet.

Administrators and faculty hosted a construction celebration ceremony inside the atrium of the Dowagiac campus’ Charles O. Zollar Building that evening for the planned $9.6-million expansion of the college’s nursing facility. Several members of the college’s board of trustees and foundation board were in attendance, along with representatives from the building’s architects and the construction firm leading the project, and others from the community. Also in attendance were Michigan Sen. John Proos, and Michigan Budget Director Al Pscholka, who delivered remarks to attendees.

In the coming weeks, construction is expected to begin on the college’s Nursing and Health Education Building, located behind the David C. Briegel building on the heart of the Dowagiac campus. The area has been fenced off in preparation for the expansion project, and nursing classes have been relocated to the Mathews Conference Center East for the duration of the construction project, which is expected to take place through fall 2018.

The renovation will more than double the footprint of the existing structure, which was built in 1970. In addition to providing additional classrooms, the new building will include four state-of-the-art nursing simulation labs and two eight-bed skills labs. Most importantly, it will allow the college to admit 50 percent more students into its nursing program, from 80 to 120 annually.

In his remarks during the ceremony, SMC President David Mathews said that the new facility will allow the college to match the quality of its nursing program, which produces graduates whose pass rates surpass state and national averages on licensure exams. More than 3,000 people have earned their nursing degrees through SMC, many of whom now staff medical facilities across the region, Mathews said.

“We meet the needs of the medical care community,” he said. “For each one of those nurses we graduate, we transform a life. Typically, for these nurses, this is a well-paying job, with benefits, that allows them to support their families without incurring tremendous financial debt that they would if they attended other schools.”

The renovation has been in the works for many years, with a $4 million allocation from the state of Michigan helping to make college leader’s vision a reality, Mathews said.

Pscholka was instrumental in securing the funding for the project when he served as state representative with the 79th District, where he was chair of the House Appropriations Committee. In spite of influence from the state’s universities, Pscholka said he fought hard in his last term in office, from 2014 to 2016, to ensure that Southwestern Michigan College received funding for the project.

“It was up to us — John [Proos] and myself, and Aaron [Miller, 59th District representative] and Dave [Pagel, 78th District representative] — to make that pitch,” Pscholka said. “These folks in Lansing needed to realize the importance of this region to this state.”

The remaining dollars for the nursing expansion will be paid through $3 million allocated to the project through the college’s budget, as well as contributions made to the college by private businesses, organizations and individuals. Donors have contributed around $600,000 so far, leaving the college with another $2 million to raise.