Butler County Community College hopes to announce the opening of a “living and learning community” in downtown Butler by June 30.

Discussions are ongoing with possible partners and collaborators, but plans remain conceptual, said Nick Neupauer, BC3 president.

“We are looking for the right partnership and collaboration. It is our hope that we will name something in downtown Butler by June 30,” Neupauer said.

A strategic plan for 2017-2022 adopted by the board of trustees last year calls for increasing BC3’s presence in the community. Neupauer said.

BC3 is already conducting continuing education classes at various locations downtown.

“We’re already running classes in downtown. We’re ahead of schedule,” he said.

Developing a living and learning community would require money that BC3 doesn’t currently have, so a source of funding is needed, he said.

If funding and partnerships are secured the living and learning community would open for the fall 2019-20 semester, he said.

The project would involve classroom space and renovating an existing building for student apartments.

“We’re not building anything or asking anyone to build anything,” Neupauer said.

The facility would allow students to live in the city and work full- or part-time or work as interns, he said.

A small building housing 10 to 15 apartments with a landlord willing to partner with BC3 is what the college is looking for, he said.

“We would want the right person to be a partner, Neupauer said.

“We’re looking for a place to locate and expand and have classes in downtown,” said Ray Steffler, chairman of the BC3 board of trustees. “We’re trying to establish a more positive image for downtown Butler. There have been a lot of people very enthusiastic about it. At this point it’s still in preliminary discussions and conversations.”

He said people who work in town could take classes during their lunch breaks.

The college would have to obtain funding for the project.

“A point of presence of BC3 in the downtown area on Main Street is what we’re looking for. We would need money,” Steffler said.

He said he would prefer renovating an existing home for the apartments.