SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) – A community college broke ground Thursday on a brand new center for its agriculture program.

The Kreher Agriculture Center will be built on the east edge of the Lincoln Land Community College campus in Springfield. The finished structure will be a 19,750-square-foot building, and the project carries a $7.5 million cost.

An $18 million gift to the school from the late Charles and Irene Kreher is supporting the project through annual contributions from the Kreher Farm Perpetual Charitable Trust to the LLCC Foundation. LLCC Board Chair Wayne Rosenthal told the crowd at Thursday’s groundbreaking the new facility will “modernize and transform” the LLCC ag program into “the finest anywhere”.

“It is so fitting that this new building will also honor the intent of LLCC’s founders 52 years ago, many of whom were farmers and wanted to provide excellent, accessible and affordable education for the citizens of our district,” Rosenthal said. “Because of them, agriculture has been taught at LLCC since its very beginning.”

Rosenthal said the center will provide “state-of-the art” laboratories and classrooms, a glassed-in expo area for ag simulators and student gathering spaces. Other parts of the $18 million gift will allow more scholarships, research and travel opportunities for LLCC agriculture students, along with the chance to use drones, high-tech simulators and augmented reality devices.

“The building will incorporate technology and active learning to prepare students for success in the 21st century workplace,” Rosenthal said.

The National Association of Agricultural Educators recently named LLCC's ag program the best college agricultural program in the Midwest. In addition, LLCC’s soil specialist team took him first place in the national Professional Agricultural Student (PAS) Organization conference held in the spring of 2018. Its college bowl team won first for the third straight year at the Illinois PAS conference.

“You can see why we’re proud and want to expand these opportunities to more students,” said LLCC President Charlotte Warren, Ph.D. “We look forward to further accolades and achievements from our ag program. With this new facility, the sky is the limit!”

The Kherer building is expected to open in the 2021 spring semester.