PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – Clinton Community College is moving. The college’s president says they are shifting all operations to SUNY Plattsburgh’s campus by the fall of 2025 due to funding constraints.
For over half a century, Clinton Community College has called the former grounds of the Hotel Champlain home, but now school officials say it’s time to say goodbye to the historic property.
College president John Kowal says the school’s relocation next year is needed if the institution wants to keep its accreditation. “We are on warning status primarily because of our finance shortfall,” he said.
He says the college is facing a deficit of roughly $850,000 that is tied to years of declining enrollment. There were around 800 full-time students at the school in 2018. That number is now around 500. “The goal is we must reduce costs by about $1.5 million,” Kowal said.
To do that without cutting programs, he says the college will have to pack up and move to the SUNY Plattsburgh campus in the fall of 2025, a move that could reduce costs by $1 million
Mark Henry, chair of the Clinton County Legislature, says the county will then determine the future of the historic property that once housed the former Hotel Champlain as well as a site that is currently home to the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing
“Based off that feasibility report — and working with the IAM, the Chamber of Commerce, our other partners — we will figure out what the best thing to do with that property as it unfolds,” Henry said.
A future use that Kowal says he believes will benefit the area. “Given the investments made in the past — that there will be a real commitment to trying to find a good purpose for these buildings,” he said.
SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Anyedi said in a statement that he the move will not negatively impact their campus. “Our focus will be to make any arrangement advantageous to both institutions and ensure there is no detrimental financial impact,” he said.
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