Malcolm X College’s West Side Learning Center Announces Second Phase of Expansion and Renovation Project

Malcolm X College’s satellite campus, the West Side Learning Center, is focused on expanding educational opportunities for West Siders—and soon, the facility itself will have an expanded footprint.

On Tuesday, August 29, 2023, leadership from City Colleges of Chicago and the Public Building Commission (PBC), alongside local, state, and national elected officials, announced plans to expand the West Side Learning Center to include a new 3,000-square-foot Community Center for Teaching and Learning. The approximately $9.5 million project is the second phase of City Colleges’ continued investment in the West Side Learning Center, following a completed first phase renovation that created new biology laboratories.

To mark the occasion, Congressman Danny K. Davis, Illinois State Representative La Shawn K. Ford, and 28^th Ward Alderman Jason C. Ervin joined City Colleges and PBC to discuss the importance of the project to the Austin community, the West Side, and the city as a whole.

“City Colleges is an integral part of education in the city of Chicago and beyond,” said Congressman Davis. “This college—a great institution—is going to be even greater [due to the expansion project].”

The Community Center for Teaching and Learning will include additional recreational and meeting spaces for students and the community to support increased enrollment at Malcolm X College. The second phase of the project will also include select renovation work on the existing facility. Design and engineering work is expected to commence later this year, with construction work anticipated to start in the fall of 2024 and the new center to open in 2026.

“We will continue investing in facilities and in people,” said Chancellor Juan Salgado at the project launch event. “We are not short of students that want to get ahead.”

Community members can currently prepare for in-demand careers in healthcare at the West Side Learning Center, such as basic nursing assistant (BNA), patient care technician (PCT), medical assistant, and community health worker. To learn more, visit www.ccc.edu/WSLC.