Campus Beautification Projects Underway At NJC

***NJC Press Release***

With the new Blue Spruce Hall just weeks away from completion at Northeastern Junior College (NJC) and a 70th anniversary year in progress, it is the perfect time to do some significant campus beautification. To this end, the NJC Foundation has joined forces with Johnson and Associates, CPAs, PC to move toward a campus that more accurately reflects the pride of our faculty, staff and students in the quality education offered at Northeastern Junior College. The accounting firm has generously funded a campus-wide landscape plan to be implemented in phases over the next few years. Kimberly Harford, a licensed landscape architect with Country Gardens Nursery, has been engaged by the Foundation to produce the plan. She is incorporating low-water-requiring plant materials specifically chosen to add color to the NJC campus throughout the year.

For the first phase of the plan, Johnson and Associates pooled resources with Wells Fargo Bank to revamp three planters in front of the Williams-Guenzi-Reed-Breidenbach (WGRB) Residence Hall – and to promote the NJC Honors Program. The formerly nondescript concrete planters filled with bare soil now sport a beautiful stone veneer and showcase flowering trees and colorful flora. Because the first floor of the WGRB three-story dormitory serves as living quarters for Honors students, the center planter includes a lighted stone sign indicating that this is the home of the NJC Honors Program. The quotation engraved on the sign, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” (Mahatma Gandhi), was selected by the 2010-2011 Honors students.

This new formal campaign to beautify NJC follows on the heels of earlier projects, which have provided attractive outdoor living spaces for our campus. Two years ago, the NJC Community Garden, including a walking path, bench and pergola, was made possible by a grant from the Colorado Garden and Home Show and donations from several community members. Last year, the Associated Student Government officers converted a never-used volleyball pit, between the WGRB and Poole Residence Halls, into a welcoming seating area for students – a curved stone-wall bench surrounded by shade trees. This year, members of the Associated Student Government and Crossroads programs purchased and placed new plants in the beds in front of the Bank of Colorado Event Center. This was part of their “Week of Service” activities at NJC.

These exciting improvements to our campus have led to what is now being referred to as the Spruce It Up! campaign – a campaign that is growing in more ways than one. The Sterling Rotary Club is funding the next phase of the NJC landscape plan – sprucing up the entrance to the campus at Sidney Avenue and Landrum Lane. This will include landscaping and a stately new Northeastern Junior College sign, donated by Sterling Monument Company. In addition, several other donors have stepped up to make possible yet another part of the plan – beautifying the entrance to Phillips-Whyman Hall. Stay tuned to see what develops in the weeks ahead. The Spruce It Up campaign is just getting started!

The NJC Foundation believes that implementation of a carefully designed landscape plan will not only enhance our campus environment but will also assist with student, faculty, and staff recruitment. Funding a portion of the landscape plan is a wonderful option for individuals or businesses that wish to support and promote our college. It is also a most thoughtful way to honor or memorialize a loved one. If you would like more information about this campaign, please contact Cindy Johnson at the NJC Foundation, 521-6603.