HOLLAND, Mich. — Changes could soon be coming to downtown Holland. Hope College is looking to expand its footprint.
Hope is having open discussions with the city on moving forward with its plans.
"We're looking at three different buildings and a lot of green space because we really want to make this still feel like it's part of campus," Hope College Director of Operations Kara Slater told FOX 17. "The largest building will be for academics, and it'll have classrooms and event space, and we'll house our economics and business department."
The remaining two buildings show a style of mixed-use and residential halls.
"We'd like to see something a little bit more public on the main floors of the buildings, and then the upper floors would be student housing," Slater added.
Slater says the college is early in its designs. Right now, the college still plans to have a focus on the property it has between 8th and 9th streets and west of Columbia Avenue.
"There would be green space fronting 9th Street. That would be, you know, more like a quad-type feel to go with the campus and could be for student use and student activities and that kind of stuff," Slater said.
The four-year liberal arts school shares that the college is on track for a record number of new students in 2022.
"We just see a need for more space on campus and for both housing and classrooms, and we're really excited to bring that for our students," Slater told FOX 17.
The college plans to meet with the city again in August to talk about moving forward.
"We're really excited. We're excited about this project. We haven't started any active fundraising on it yet. So we don't have a time frame, but we're moving forward and excited to see what emerges out of our plans," Slater added.
