Agriculture & Renewable Energy Center and

Ellsworth Equestrian Center

Construction of the new ECC Agriculture & Renewable Energy Center and Ellsworth Equestrian Center is now under way. This new state-of-the-art facility is located south of Iowa Falls on Highway 65, just south of the existing Hog Slat operation. It is anticipated that construction will be completed in the fall of 2009.

The ECC Agriculture & Renewable Energy Center will include a biotechnology classroom and laboratories (including two biotechnology incubator labs), agriculture classrooms, a large animal lab, an indoor arena, a computer lab, and a commons area. ECC’s equine program will also be relocated to this site in the new Ellsworth Equestrian Center. The Center will attract local, regional and national shows.

The facilities are being financed in large part by Iowa Valley Community College District's general obligation bond issue, which  was approved by voters in 2006. A separate capital campaign is also being conducted to raise an additional $5 million for construction and equipment costs, as well as $1 million for ECC scholarships. In addition, according to ECC Provost Mollie Teckenburg, the project has been timed so that the District can qualify to apply for federal and state grant funding to support some of the costs.

For more information about the ECC Agriculture & Renewable Energy Center or the Ellsworth Equestrian Center, contact Mollie Teckenburg, ECC Provost, by phoning (641) 648-8502 or emailing Mollie.Teckenburg@iavalley.edu.