The Upper Bucks campus celebrated its 20th anniversary with root beer floats, a free yoga class, and yellow t-shirts saying, “We’re almost legal! 20 years!”
The Upper Bucks Campus, located in Perkasie, is home to many facilities, student services, and student organizations. In its 20 short years, the campus has
expanded to provide a variety of programs and services.
Facilities include 19 lecture and multi-size seminar rooms, student commons and lounges, science and allied health labs, a café, conference rooms, an outdoor amphitheater, and faculty offices. The campus has a North and South building, and is joined together by the student commons and café.
“I have taught at UBC since the day it first opened and have enjoyed being a part of the UBC family! I can’t imagine there is a better place to teach! The Upper Bucks Campus is unique in that it is small enough for everyone, students, faculty, and staff to get to know each other,” said adjunct faculty Brenda Price.
The campus shared the celebration with students during the first week of the fall semester. Activities held on different days included lanyards & lemonade, root beer floats, and a free yoga class. Free yellow t-shirts were also handed out reading, “We’re almost legal! 20 years!”
Though the Upper Bucks campus might not be as big as the Newtown campus, it serves a huge purpose for the community college. It helps commuting students receive affordable education without having to travel too far.
“We mostly pull from Quakertown, Palisades, Pennridge, and CB South,” said Upper Bucks Campus Executive Director, Rodney Altemose. The Upper Bucks campus give students from these areas a more accessible campus to study at.
There were plans to open the Upper Bucks Campus as early as the 1980s. But on Sept. 7, 1999, Bucks opened its second full-service campus in East Rockhill Township. It was a single building, which is called the South Building today. The North Building was built in 2004.
It was built on the site of a former First Union Bank Center on Hillendale Road. Quakertown officials were disappointed with the decision as the Quakertown
Borough Council wanted to donate a 17-acre space of a former Krupp foundry to build the satellite campus on.
However, the college preferred not having to build from the ground up.
The First Union Bank was a 33,000 square-foot building and was willing to take off $1.2 million off of the $3 million asking price. East Rockhill Township supervisors also donated 28 acres to the college to be used for future expansions.
The location of the campus is ideal. The buildings are situated near the Perkiomen Creek, the Mood’s Covered Bridge is just down the street, and there is a huge lawn full of green grass.
The campus buildings are also green buildings. The building incorporates design principles and materials, such as a rooftop garden, insulated glazing system, and a geothermal mechanical system. Features like the flooring in the college are recycled material.
“I’ve seen this campus as something from no walls to completed buildings,” explained Rodney Altemose, “This is a very lively campus.”
On Oct. 24, the Upper Bucks campus will be celebrating the anniversary once more with a sculpture unveiling. It will be a tribute to every person who has helped contribute to the campus.