NSCC scraps proposed program

LYNN – Financing problems have forced North Shore Community College to scrap a $1 million proposed Union Street culinary and cosmetology program.College Interim President Jan Forsstrom said the college and Providence-based Higher Education Partners wanted to open the 140-student program in January, but Forsstrom said the initiative ran into money problems.She said the financing that HEP sought to help pay for converting the former bank building at Silsbee and Union streets into an academic center fell through. Forsstrom added that construction costs involved in renovating the building for the two college programs proved too expensive.”The cost for these programs were much more; it was a complex project,” she said.Unveiled last spring, the cosmetology and culinary arts program won praise from college administrators who ranked it among several major changes planned for 2014, including the start of New Jersey educator Patricia Gentile’s tenure as college president.City officials welcomed the prospect of North Shore students attending classes evenings in a downtown building, and Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy called plans to scrap the Union Street project “disappointing news.””I’m sure we will find another suitable business to occupy the space,” she said.A college press release stated that the college will not offer culinary classes during the 2014-15 academic year and “does not plan to admit new students into the Culinary Arts Program until all options are reviewed.”But Forsstrom said the college will go through the state property acquisition and leasing process starting in January to find a new home for the culinary program.”It’s highly desirable for us to have space in Lynn,” she said.Students currently attend classes at the program’s current site at the former Essex Agricultural and Technical Institute in Middleton.The culinary program spans two years, and Forsstrom expects interest in it will increase and require space outside the Lynn and Danvers campuses. She said 100 students are currently enrolled in it.”That’s a high-growth program,” she said.Forsstrom, who serves as interim president until January when Gentile becomes president, said college administrators have decided to end the cosmetology program after the current 40-student class graduates in May.”We’re not planning to accept students into that program next year,” she said.