David Campbell plays guitar and sings Wednesday to help celebrate the opening of the Student Success Center on the Butler County Community College campus. The new building houses admissions, campus police, student clubs and many other services.

BUTLER TWP — When Jenette Armentrout went to Butler County Community College to register for classes this summer, she brought along her 11-year-old daughter.

Together, they went from office to office inside the same building to work out financial aid, select classes, and visit the book store. At the end of her visit, Armentrout bought her daughter some juice and they sat on the outdoor patio.

She said that's when her daughter looked up at her and said, "Mom, I'm going to college because you guys have everything."

Putting all the student services together under one roof is what the college designed the new Student Success Center to do. The building houses admissions, campus police, tutoring and preadmission testing, and student clubs along with other services in its 34,000 square feet.

Armentrout said her favorite part of the building is the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society office on the upper floor. She's running for president of the club and appreciates a space designated for it.

Before this building was opened, the club had to move from classroom to classroom and leave meeting notices in offices of three advisers.

"This gives us a face," she said.

While the building opened at the start of the semester for students, the college took advantage of Wednesday's unique date of 9-9-09 to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony with county leaders.

County Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser was one member of a group who helped cut the ceremonial blue ribbon.

"To me this has more meaning than anything we've done since Dale (Pinkerton) and I've been in office," Lokhaiser said.

He said he's learned BC3 is "a gem right here in Butler County."

Also on hand was John Kosar, architect for the project. He described the stone and steel building as a "continuation of the thoughts of the founding fathers of the college."

The $6.6 million building was designed with natural lighting from large windows, open spaces at both entrances, and an overall lodge atmosphere.

It was particularly exciting for Kosar to design this building because he worked on the initial 1966 campus design, he said.

"They got a very, very successful, functional building," Kosar said, noting the project was completed on time and 20 percent under budget.

While the county leaders dined and mingled in the two-story atrium at the western end of the building, students were celebrating the opening of the building at the eastern end. There, free ice cream, cookies and flying discs were available.

Outside was live acoustic music, and indoors, the large flat-screen TVs were tuned to ESPN.