The Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees voted 6-2 to allow college officials to spend $2.5 million for about 20 acres of land for a new campus in Morris.

The vote on Wednesday represented the next step but not the final one for the development of a campus that is meant to meet the needs of a growing population and work force in Grundy County.

Architecture and construction will go out to bid in March 2027, with the construction of the campus expected to begin in summer 2027. The college is planning for occupancy in 2028.

The proposed site for the campus is the southeast corner of Illinois Route 47 and Granville Road in Morris. It is located across the street from Saratoga Elementary School and it is about a mile north of Interstate 80.

The Board of Trustees voted on a resolution Wednesday to approve the execution of a real estate contract to purchase the property, according to JJC Spokeswoman Kelly Rohder-Tonelli.

The approval of the resolution allows JJC President Clyne Namuo or his designee, and a legal counsel, to “negotiate and execute the final contract,” she said.

The cost of the property included in the draft contract is $2.5 million, Rohder-Tonelli said.

A $1.9 million employee retention credit will go toward the land purchase and the difference will come from the college’s reserves, Rohder-Tonelli said.

JJC was awarded the employee retention credit, which is a refundable payroll tax credit through the Internal Revenue Service for organizations that were financially impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and retained employees.

The property can support a minimum of 25,000 square feet, Rohder-Tonelli said.

The proposed campus was supported by the Grundy County expansion committee, which is composed of business leaders and elected officials.

In an Aug. 18 letter, the committee said the campus will offer programs in industry and workforce development, healthcare education, general education and career and technical education.

Rohder-Tonelli said Grundy County represents “untapped potential, with a growing population and rising median income.”

“We know the college is uniquely positioned to address the growing demand for a skilled workforce in Grundy County, and this expansion positions JJC as a responsive and future-focused partner in regional development,” Rohder-Tonelli said.

JJC Trustees Maureen Broderick and Michelle Lee were the two votes against the real estate contract. The two said they were concerned about the cost of the purchase and whether the campus is truly needed.

“$127,500 per an acre. Just really is a lot per an acre and especially for farmland,” Broderick said.

She previously suggested the college instead consider offering classes at high schools in Minooka and Morris to see if there’s a need for a new campus.

It’s not yet clear how many students are expected to attend the new campus in Morris. But JJC currently has 1,500 students from Grundy County who travel to the main campus in Joliet, according to Rohder-Tonelli.

At the Oct. 15 board meeting, JJC Executive Vice President Yolanda Farmer said student enrollment among Grundy County high schools is 5,391.

“We have 1,001 high schools students—seniors—that could potentially come to Joliet Junior College, which represents a strong and promising pipeline for us when we talk about student enrollment,” Farmer said.

Broderick said there were many reports and studies that should have been completed pertaining to feasibility, demographics, student enrollment, environmental impacts and other issues.

Broderick expressed concern that JJC may make the same mistake Lincoln-Way High School District 210, which overbuilt with two schools in the late 2000s.

“Lincoln-Way did this and unfortunately they didn’t do all of the studies that they should’ve before they built Lincoln-Way North and Lincoln-Way West,” Broderick said.

Lincoln-Way North and West high schools were built in response to projected student population growth that never materialized. The schools were built even though enrollment projections were not matching reality several years before construction.

North high school was closed in 2016. While district officials blamed the housing market and low state funding, they later acknowledged the district’s financial condition were masked by improper accounting practices.

JJC Chairman James Budzinski said the college has presenting all the information Broderick has asked for over two years.

Budzinski said he does “not have the opinion that there was a failure at Lincoln-Way.” He said the there were other issues with the economy the stopped home building in the Lincoln-Way area.

“It’s just that we could not forecast all the things that happened. We can’t forecast all of what’s going to what happen in the next couple of years if we go ahead and move forward. But it will not be the fault of this board or the [Grundy County expansion] committee,” Budzinski said.

He said the committee led by Farmer has done a lot of “good work investigating all of what you’re complaining about.”