GALESBURG — The Carl Sandburg College Board of Trustees during its regular monthly meeting Thursday approved the selection of a construction manager to lead the College’s most significant project since the initial building of the Main Campus.

The Board approved the selection of River City Construction in East Peoria for a one-year term as Sandburg’s construction manager, with the option of four one-year extensions. The company has previously partnered with several other higher education institutions in constructing new science buildings, including Illinois College, Southern Illinois University and the University of Missouri.

River City Construction will lead the erection of upcoming capital projects at Sandburg, highlighted by a new science and technology center that would function as the centerpiece building on campus. The two-story building would offer views of Lake Storey on the Main Campus in addition to serving as a new, state-of-the-art classroom space and offering a centralized location for Sandburg’s student services offices.

The Board on Thursday also adopted a resolution providing for the issuance of approximately $27 million in bonds to support this and other capital projects and authorized the sale of the bonds to Piper Sandler & Co. Trustees first received a presentation in June on the opportunity to issue bonds to support these projects, and they approved a resolution at their September meeting to issue $30 million in debt certificates. A public hearing on the intent to issue bonds took place last month.

In other business, the Board approved the following:
• Employment of Veronica Thor as director of international student services, effective Jan. 1.
• Employment of Wanhoe Kim as data and information specialist, effective Jan. 1.
• Employment of Kirk Watson as coordinator of the testing center, effective Jan. 1
• Resignation of Robert Crawley as academic support services/Americans with Disabilities Act & Section 504 coordinator, effective Nov. 26.
• Resignation of Kris Gray as dean of health professions, effective Dec. 31.
• Resignation of Emily Webel as executive director of advancement, effective Dec. 3.
• Extension of unpaid leave of absence to Troy Chansler, effective Dec. 2-Jan. 11.

The Board’s next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Jan. 27.