BEATRICE – The Southeast Community College Board has approved the purchase of property from the Nebraska City Public Schools, for a new Learning Center location.

The Board approved the purchase of a building at 1406 Central Avenue for about $950,000…which includes equipment and furnishings already in the building. The purchase price was about $30,000 under the assessed value.

Enrollment at the Nebraska City Learning Center increased significantly up until 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced many programs to an online format.

Cindy Meyer is the Learning Center Coordinator in Nebraska City, and said early in 2021, some classes are running at full capacity.
"We're currently doing an EMT course that's filled to capacity and last week we also had an electrical fundamentals course that also was full. This coming Monday, will be the first night of our nursing assistant class which is filled to capacity, as well."

Meyer says the center also offer classes in partnership with other agencies, including financial literacy and how to start a business. More than 560 people have come into the downtown Nebraska City Learning Center since July. Challenges with the current learning center include a lack of classroom and study space and dedicated testing space. There is also limited parking along Central Avenue in front of the learning center, located at 9th and Central Avenue.

The new location is at 14th and Central Avenue, and offers 12,500 square feet of space, with about 70-percent of it newly remodeled. It offers three classrooms and a lab area, 3,500 square feet of unfinished space and more parking.

SCC Board Chairperson Kathy Boellstorff says its’ an exciting transition for the college. "Now, to see it transforming from that original space into these possibilities is very exciting. And, I think that was the goal of the learning centers at first, anyway."

The Nebraska City learning center is one of six that Southeast Community College has throughout its 15-county service territory.