Students who attend LSC–CyFair have an opportunity to take classes in a new facility when the college's second satellite center opens Aug. 26 at the corner of Fry and Clay roads.

College administrators first determined the need for a second satellite center about five years ago when the second LSCS bond passed in 2008.

"It was in response to student growth," LSC–CyFair president Audre Levy said. "As we've done with other areas, we looked at where the student population is and where there is a need for the community."

The new Cypress Center will accommodate about 3,200 students, similar to the number at the existing Fairbanks Center near Hwy. 290 and Beltway 8. About 15,000 square feet of the Cypress Center's 85,000 square feet will be dedicated to workforce programs such as welding, machining, geographic informational systems, drafting and engineering technology. In many cases, the demand has exceeded the space those classes were allocated on the main campus, Levy said.

"When the campus was designed, we were looking at a population of 9,000, and we've doubled that," she said. "We're trying to be responsive to the community and provide workforce training, and those programs require larger labs."

The emphasis on space for workforce programs at the Cypress Center played a part in deciding where to locate the satellite center, said Deana Sheppard, LSC–CyFair associate vice president for college centers.

"We thought, if we're going to expand those programs, where should we [locate] this center, and so where we bought property seemed like a natural place since it's so close to the Energy Corridor," she said.

The Cypress Center is a full-service campus, meaning students can take academic classes—such as history, math, English and art—aside from the workforce classes. Testing, advising and registration services will also be available, along with an on-site bookstore and open lab in which students can do research.

"It's a center that anyone can take a couple classes at if they're transferring to a four-year university or a place where someone can pick up some skills for their job," Sheppard said.

Although the facility is in the Bear Creek area, college administrators chose the name Cypress Center to complement the original satellite center off Hwy. 290 near Beltway 8—the Fairbanks Center.

"At the end of the day, we decided we are the Cypress Fairbanks college," Sheppard said. "We had a Fairbanks Center, so we created the Cypress Center."