Collin College smart start with $40M McKinney project

McKINNEY – Two new projects totaling 149,000 sf will break ground in May at Collin College’s Central Park Campus, located at 2200 W. University Dr.

Collin College will begin work on a 24,000-sf conference center and a three-story, 125,000-sf health sciences center.

The entire project, which will also include additional parking, is expected to cost $40 million and take about 15 months, said Lisa Vasquez, vice president of public relations and college development.

Similar conference centers are already at Collin College’s Plano and Frisco campuses. The McKinney campus’s current conference center accommodates only 350 people, and the expansion will make room for 1,000 people or 500 at round tables. It will be able to split into smaller sections and will contain two 900-sf classrooms.

The health sciences building will house hospital labs for nursing students, emergency services, surgical technology, respiratory care and sleep disorder technology, as well as classrooms and faculty offices. It will also have a simulation lab with advanced human patient simulators for students to practice clinical procedures.