KVCC/Bronson
Healthy Living Campus

In cooperation with Bronson Healthcare Group and Kalamazoo County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s (KVCC) vision for this project was to create a campus focused on wellness and food sustainability.

• Marilyn J. Schlack Culinary and Allied Health Building: The Marilyn J. Schlack Culinary and Allied Health Building is a space where students make connections between food, health, and sustainability. It houses Kalamazoo Valley’s Menus That Matter™ Culinary Arts program and Sustainable Brewing program on the first and second floors. The college’s nursing, emergency medical technician, and respiratory therapy programs are on the third floor. The building also contains a student-run restaurant and cafe.
• Food Innovation Center: At the Food Innovation Center, Kalamazoo Valley students and partners explore new trends in growing food indoors and in reclaimed urban environments. The site hosts a food hub for aggregating foods from local farms to supply area hospitals, schools, and other institutions. Indoor growing space, processing and distribution facility, quality assurance testing lab, classroom and greenhouse, and outdoor gardens and education spaces are located in the FIC.

The new campus was developed on 13.3 acres of unused land donated by Bronson Healthcare Group, where KVCC has expanded its curriculum to include training in sustainable food production, distribution, and preparation.

In constructing the campus, CSM Group collaborated with the City of Kalamazoo, Bronson Healthcare Group, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure minimal construction impact on the surrounding environment.

There were many aspects of the existing environment to account for, including surrounding city parks, residential properties, public access/walkways, bus routes, Bronson Hospital (open 24/7), and a river/creek, all of which required safe routes of access and the ability to remain fully functional.

CSM Group utilized proper erosion control measures, separation barriers, tributary curtains, mulch blankets, air, soil, and water monitoring, and a third-party environmental consultation to ensure our impact on the ecological footprint surrounding this project site was safe and continuously monitored.

Great effort and diligence were also taken to ensure all control methods were in place and working appropriately so as not to impede the flow and contamination of Portage Creek, a tributary to the Kalamazoo River, which ran directly through the construction zone. Part of the project’s scope was to redirect the river's natural flow to approach from an easterly route using careful excavation tactics and sheet piling. With the river redirected, the ability to form the new route and landscape features, including new control berms, rock/retaining walls, natural habitat plantings, and structural construction supports, was accomplished. Once this scope was complete, the waterway was carefully opened with proper flow, and the environmental habitat was restored.