SLCC's downtown location drawing a crowd

Salt Lake Community College's Main Street Center is starting to draw a crowd.

SLCC's renovated downtown Salt Lake City location reopened late last year and drew only a handful of students for a few abbreviated classes.

Now, there are 511 students taking 26 classes on two floors at 115 S. Main.

"I'm very pleased with our first full quarter of classes," said center director, Larry Landward. "It really exceeded our expectations."

Prior to 2005, the highest enrollment was less than 300.

The location is perfect for Don Snow, who lives nearby in the Avenues. He just started a cash-flow consulting business, but he needs a beginning computer course to learn how to use a new laptop computer.

"It's convenient, it's clean and most everything is up to date," said Snow, 68, who paid only $10 for the class because of his age.

Snow called the University of Utah about a similar class, only to discover it would have cost him over $300.

"I said, 'Fine, thanks — goodbye,' " Snow said. The price of books would have been the same.

Students at the downtown location are finding a variety of general education classes in addition to courses like landscaping, statistics, human anatomy and criminal justice.

Part of the reason for the center's popularity stems from students not getting into classes elsewhere. Landward said some students are already enrolled at the U., but they make the trip into the city for a class with transferable credits and then head east back up the hill.

Parking hasn't been quite the problem some may have imagined at the center.

Last week, Landward said he authorized approval for 100 parking validation requests at about $1.75 each. That number might be the average per week until more students find out about the offer, he predicted.

"I can keep it up until they fire me," Landward said with a laugh. Finding accommodations for parking, he added, is a must.

Enrollment growth is expected to increase each semester and Landward said the number of students could someday reach 2,500. Couple that with leasing space to outside groups and hosting conferences and SLCC's downtown location will need to expand its current 14-classroom capacity.