Between a proposed arena and upcoming groundbreaking for residence halls, Jefferson Community College is planning a lot of expansion as its enrollment grows in the next few years.

JCC President Carole A. McCoy updated the college’s board of trustees on the multipurpose facility’s feasibility study during Wednesday’s meeting, laying out the next course of action for the community.

“We will be bringing together a group of community stakeholders in April” when Trustee Daniel J. Villa is back, she said. “It’s just a feasibility study, so there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.”

That work includes making sure the stakeholders and those who funded the $40,000 study — Jefferson County, Jefferson Community College Foundation, Watertown Local Development Corp. and the Northern New York Community Foundation — want the $44.5 million project to go forward, as well as determining how it will be funded.

The proposed facility would include “a $12.3 million higher education center, $7 million field house and $25 million events center,” according to a released statement.

Mrs. McCoy wants to wait until Mr. Villa returns from vacation to hold the meeting because “he was really the driving force behind the project,” she said.

Although the trustees are focusing on both the study and an upcoming groundbreaking for the $16 million dormitory project, Mrs. McCoy said she wants to be sure the other projects on the college’s five-year master plan are not forgotten.

“We can’t let this project diminish the need for the collaborative learning center,” she said.

The learning center will offer space where students could study or be tutored. Materials from the Melvil Dewey Library also will be moved to the new building. The library then will be retrofitted into classroom space.

“We’re pretty tight,” Mrs. McCoy said.

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