Many of the freshmen who started this fall will get to experience a whole new environment when they begin their learning in the Mennonite Lab Building in 2024. A 16,000 square foot expansion is on the way. The $18 million project will more than double the lab’s current size, bringing the total square footage to 25,000 square feet.
The $18 million project will more than double the lab’s current size, bringing the total square footage to 25,000 square feet.
This expansion is just one key way MCN is working hard to help answer the need for nurses in Illinois. On average, MCN turns away roughly 1,500 applications each year, in part due to lack of space for more students. The new facility will accommodate more students and more faculty, allowing MCN to graduate more nurses.
“The lab is used nearly every day, and we definitely outgrew the space,” explains Joanna Willett, director of the Mennonite Lab Building.
The expanded one-story lab will feature a multipurpose area with a 60-seat classroom, a state-of-the-art technology room for virtual reality programming, hospital simulation space, a skills lab, and lecture hall. New office spaces and a student success suite will provide increased opportunity for student interaction with faculty and support staff.
In addition to areas dedicated to academics, thought has been given to other types of spaces. The building’s entrance will feature a new Student Engagement and Learning Center — an open space for gathering, studying, supporting, and mentoring nursing students. An outdoor pavilion will provide a place for meetups and study breaks. Quiet study areas and a health and wellness space will provide dedicated places for student support and success.
“I think students will really enjoy learning in the new lab,” adds Willett. “This is an exciting time to be at MCN.”
This is an exciting time to be at MCN.
Joanna Willett, Director of Mennonite Lab Building
Architectural plans are currently being finalized, but signs of the coming facility are already appearing. Over the summer, buildings were demolished and the lot was prepared for the expansion’s eventual construction site. During this process, lab equipment was relocated temporarily to Williams Hall.
“It was a big job to move everything to Williams Hall this summer, and then to move it back to the existing lab this fall, but we made it work,” explains Willett.
As the project moves forward, MCN has launched a fundraising campaign, titled Legacy of Care: Building Tomorrow’s Nurses, to support the building expansion and equipment costs. The campaign has already raised over $1 million in gifts, well on its way toward the campaign’s $5 million goal.
Alumna Beth Mathews, who graduated in 1977 and works in primary care, is excited to be giving to the project.
“I give because I want to make nursing better now and for the future, and it is essential that students have the resources to excel,” says Mathews. “This is something that is enormously important to me, my husband and, in fact, our entire family. Not only do we need more well-prepared nurses, we need to look ahead to when we’re older and our loved ones are older. A gift today can have so much impact for years to come. It truly is helping to create a legacy of care, and I am rewarded in so many ways by giving.”
For more information on how to support the Nursing Simulation Lab expansion, contact Jennifer Sedbrook, development director for Mennonite College of Nursing, at (309) 438-7178 or jsedbro@IllinoisState.edu.
