The idea of bringing Austin PBS station KLRU-TV’s studios to Austin Community College started as a discussion among longtime friends.

KLRU CEO and General Manager Bill Stotesbery and ACC board of trustees member Nan McRaven have been friends for decades—since they were both studying at The University of Texas’s LBJ School of Public Affairs.

A few years ago, Stotesbery and McRaven discussed the idea of bringing KLRU from its longtime home at The University of Texas across town to ACC. UT’s Moody College of Communication was growing quickly, and a new space would provide KLRU flexibility to provide more services to the community.

At the time, ACC did not have the space to become a partner. Technology company Rackspace was in talks with ACC to sign a lease and move into a building on the Highland campus that used to house a Dillard’s store.

Rackspace was sold to a private investor in 2017, however, and it never finalized a lease with ACC. Stotesbery reached out to ACC President Richard Rhodes, eventually leading to an agreement to bring the public television station’s studios to the community college campus.

The new space will open in 2020. Alongside the space KLRU leases, the building will include ACC’s TV station and administrative offices. The 185,000-square-foot building will be expanded by another 15,000 to 20,000 square feet before it’s completed, according to Dr. Rhodes.

“It gives us the real opportunity to develop our programs, to give our students hands-on, real-time experience working with KLRU, working with ACC TV to get the type of experience necessary to be valued employees in that business of the future,” Rhodes said at an event Thursday announcing the news.

According to Stotesbery, KLRU’s partnership with UT will continue after the move.

“We don’t have to be in the space to work with professors,” he said. “A lot of what we do is help filmmakers who teach at UT get their films into general distribution nationally.”

The move will allow KLRU to offer more services to the community, both for ACC students on campus and the community. Stotesbery cited educational programs for families with children as an example of something KLRU could offer in its new space that is a challenge at UT.

“We are working to construct what will be an innovative media center. I want to stress that. This is not about television. This is not about offices. It’s not about space. It’s about creating innovation in media and making media that has an enormous impact on the community,” Stotesbery said.

Construction is expected begin in the fall, according to ACC spokesperson Jessica Vess. The $55 million project will be funded by the 2014 Public Facilities Corporation bond.