A $34 million Lone Star College center being built in Magnolia is one of the college system’s last projects from its nearly $500 million bond in 2014.
Expected to open its doors in 2026, the new center recently broke ground along FM 1486 on June 27.
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Lone Star College-Montgomery President De’ Reese Reid-Hart said she was excited for the 51,000 square-foot center to be near the finish line.
“It’s been in the making for 10 years,” Reid-Hart said. “We’re just excited to finally be here and realizing the promise that we made to the community.”
The center will offer regular transfer courses while also offering two workforce programs — heating, ventilating, and air conditioning and EMS.
The college has partnered with Magnolia ISD to offer dual-credit courses and college prep activities, Reid-Hart said. The center also will have a community space that people can rent for meetings and other activities.Â
The college is also expected to begin construction on a 20,000 square-foot addition to its north Houston Victory location, which will provide additional instructional and common space as part of the 2014 bond.Â
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Newly elected Magnolia mayor Matthew “Doc” Dantzer called the center a reflection of the growth that the city is experiencing “that Lone Star is willing to come out here and put a programming like this to help our youth.”
“So many kids…just don’t want to go to college,” Dantzer said. “They want to work, they want to enter a vocational type atmosphere. This school is going to work with Magnolia ISD to prepare kids to graduate high school and either graduate and come out with an education, a vocation and or have at least some place local to go to get that after high school — and not accrue four years of student loans. I think it’s an amazing asset to the community.”
As of 2022, the college had an enrollment of more than 85,000 students, according to its website. And Reid-Hart said she doesn’t see it slowing down anytime soon.Â
“We continue to maintain our enrollment,” she said, noting that the spring semester was one of the institutes largest enrollments ever. “We’re definitely feeling the impact of the growing community at our different locations. And we’re pretty psyched we’ll continue to have growth in terms of enrollment, because of the growth in both the Magnolia and Conroe area.”
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