The Maricopa Community Colleges District is considering plans to join the growing collection of educational institutions seeking a presence in downtown Phoenix. The convergence has been fueled by interest in biotech involvement and centered on the headquarters of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen.

Community colleges would be the latest to flock to the area, joining the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and Arizona State University, which plans to develop a 10,000-student downtown campus.

The move would be funded by a planned 2004 bond election. Eugene Giovannini, president of GateWay Community College, told The Arizona Republic that the community colleges plan on having space at the TGen building, located at Seventh and Fillmore Streets.

The district could also seek a larger presence in one of the three historic buildings that were once part of Phoenix Union High School. Located at Seventh Street and Van Buren, the buildings are ideally situated for establishing linkages with both TGen and the International Genomics Consortium, and are currently also the focus of plans to establish a biotech high school in downtown Phoenix.

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More information:

"Community colleges may seek link with TGen," The Arizona Republic, 5/30/2003

"Phoenix Union hall may be reborn as biotech school," The Arizona Republic, 5/21/2003