News

Opening Day: Say Hello to the Brand-New Lake Land College Effingham Technology Center!

Kailyn Tracy, Editor In Chief

September 9, 2025

Community members toured the recently launched building this past July, including Laker Louie!

On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Lake Land College (LLC) unveiled the highly anticipated LLC Effingham Technology Center (ETC), replacing the Kluthe Center for Higher Education and Technology. Community members from both Coles and Effingham counties enjoyed an array of opening day festivities.

Nearly 30 years after the inception of the Kluthe Center, Lake Land College revealed in 2023 that the institution had purchased Effingham’s Patterson Technology building. Since then, LLC has been hard at work ensuring that students who enroll at the ETC will have the ability to participate in all programs previously offered at the Kluthe Center. These programs include the likes of Practical Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant and Massage Therapy.

Along with the move of programs to the Effingham Technology Center, the building will also house many other community partnerships, including that of Patterson Technologies. One such partnership is with CORE, which stands for “Creating Opportunities for Regional Employment.” This program, built for high school students and known as CORE Academy, focuses on helping students build skills and explore future career paths.

Those who participated in Opening Day were greeted with the opportunity to tour the LLC Maker Space and the exciting new virtual reality classrooms. Community members were able to tour the many labs that are housed in the center as well, including those in the previously mentioned programs. Along with the labs and classrooms, people explored what Patterson Technologies and the newly established CORE Academy have to offer.

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Among the facility’s many new visitors on opening day was Jay Bliler, LLC’s very own Student Trustee. When considering everyone who came out to enjoy the unveiling of the nearly 100,000 square foot building, Bliler said, “I mean, I was amazed … and also meeting all of the people who had helped to make the Effingham Technology Center possible … it was a really inspiring thing to see.”

When asked about what the new center has to offer, Bliler mentioned, “Not only is it a place for the college to grow, but also for the people and the communities that the college serves to grow as well.”

The introduction of the LLC Effingham Technology Center is an exciting time for the Laker community and a testament to the college’s mission of helping students succeed.

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About the Contributors

Kailyn Tracy, Editor In Chief

Kailyn Tracy is currently serving as Editor-in-Chief for the 2025/2026 school year. She is in her sophomore year here at Lake Land College as a history major. Kailyn has plans of transferring to a four-year university and working towards becoming an archivist, librarian, or museum curator. Kailyn is so excited to work with everyone this year and release some wonderful issues of The Navigator News. She absolutely loves to read and has floor-to-ceiling shelves full of books. Kailyn never thought that when she joined the Navigator as a reporter her freshman year that she would become Editor-in-Chief, and she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

Aisha Salami, Layout and Design Editor

Aisha Salami currently majors in Business and plans on transferring to EIU for her Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and Master’s degree in Cybersecurity. She plans to become an ETHICAL Hacker one day. She reads Dark Romance novels, watches Anime, Crotchets, Draws Isometric projection of objects, Workouts in the gym, and Writes in her spare time. Being on the Navigator is a wonderful opportunity for her because she gets to improve her writing skills and meet new people. She did not see herself as a writer growing up but is glad the time she realized her passion for writing, she got to be on the Navigator immediately after.