History of Campuses
Fall 1968: FRCC opens its doors in temporary quarters at East 62nd Avenue and Downing Street, Denver. Original name: Community College of Denver, North Campus (CCD-N). FRCC was the first community college created by the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education.
Fall 1977: CCD-N moves to its permanent home—the Westminster Campus, a new solar-heated facility on 112th Avenue.
July 1983: Still part of the Community College of Denver system, the North Campus changes its name to Front Range Community College.
July 1985: Front Range Community College becomes an autonomous community college.
July 1988: The Larimer County Voc-Tec Center (LCVTC) merges with Front Range Community College to become FRCC’s Larimer Campus. LCVTC had offered secondary instruction for the Poudre R-1, Thompson R2-J, and Park R-3 school districts since it opened in 1972, and had offered postsecondary and adult vocational-educational programs since fall 1973.
Fall 1990: FRCC opens the Boulder Valmont Campus in an office building at 2995 Wilderness Place. The college had been offering classes in Boulder since 1983.
January 1995: The FRCC Longmont Campus opens, fulfilling a long-standing dream of Longmont residents and the Longmont business community. From 1982 to 1994, FRCC had offered college classes to Longmont residents at Longmont High School and various other locations.
July 1995: FRCC begins offering classes in the old Fort Collins High School building on Remington Street, which became known as the Remington Campus.
July 1995: Boulder Arapahoe Campus is formed from a temporary merger of FRCC and the Boulder Technical Education Center (TEC), a subsidiary unit of the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). The campus reverted to the school district in July 1997 and is no longer part of FRCC.
September 1996: Having outgrown its Wilderness Place location, FRCC’s Boulder Valmont Campus moves to a stand-alone site in Boulder’s Gunbarrel area and is renamed the North Boulder Campus.
February 1997: The Higher Education and Advanced Technology Center (HEAT) opens at the former Lowry Air Force Base in Aurora. FRCC is one of the charter institutions at the new campus. The campus transferred to Community College of Aurora in September 2001.
August 1998: In response to growing enrollment, the college renovates and expands campuses. The Longmont Campus doubles in size. A new Campus Center and joint-use College Hill Library are added at the Westminster Campus, and a renovated portion of Mount Antero Building and the new Challenger Point, Longs Peak Student Center, and joint-use Harmony Library are added at the Larimer Campus.
January 1999: The Brighton Center opens in the former Adams County Justice Center, now the Community Education Center. FRCC joins the CCCOnline consortium for online delivery of courses and degrees.
August 2003: The Boulder County Campuses in the Gunbarrel area of Boulder and north Longmont reach capacity. FRCC combines the two sites into one larger Boulder County Campus located just southeast of the intersection of Hover Road and the Diagonal (Hwy. 119) in southwest Longmont.
December 2008: The Brighton Center moves to a new home in the newly remodeled Brighton Learning and Resource Center, in the former Platte Valley Medical Center building.
August 2010: Larimer Campus opens new science building, Sunlight Peak.
November 2011: Boulder County Campus completes a renovation which includes new science and medical office technology labs, improvements to 16 general classrooms and the creation of two new classrooms, expansion of the Geographic Information Systems lab, and reconfigured office space that allows more academic advisors, financial aid counselors, and new faculty to meet with students.
January 2012: Westminster Campus opens a Student Services Center in the heart of the campus. A Welcome Center greets students, who can then access Advising, Testing, Special Services, Financial Aid, Cashiers, Admissions and Records, and a 50-station Computer Commons.
March 2013: Westminster Campus students approve a bond fee for parking lot safety improvements, including a new stop light and pedestrian walkways and additional close-in parking, and improvements to the Student Center, including a coffee bar, upgraded gym facilities, quiet study space, and a multipurpose performance space. Larimer Campus students approve a bond fee to contribute to funding $32 million in projects, including a new Integrated Technology Building and renovations to other buildings.
January 2015: Little Bear Peak opens at the Larimer Campus as the first phase of the campus renovation and expansion. Little Bear Peak houses Integrated Technology programs - Automotive Technology, Manufacturing and Energy Technology, and Welding Technology. The Westminster Campus celebrates the improvements to the Student Center. The Student Center houses more student-centered spaces, including a coffee bar, increased lounge space, quiet study rooms, and an upgraded and expanded gym and fitness facility.
August 2015: The South Classroom Building and a new greenhouse open at the Westminster Campus. The South Classroom Building was renovated to become a visual-art center with a ceramics studio, a 3D lab and two 2D labs as well as a general purpose classroom and an outdoor kiln area. The greenhouse has two parts - a hands-on classroom and the greenhouse. A portion of the exterior site will be used as a teaching lab for irrigation systems and landscape construction skills. A full renovation of Redcloud Peak and a renovation of the north wing of Blanca Peak open at the Larimer Campus as the second phase of the campus renovation and expansion. Redcloud Peak was renovated to house the Creative Arts, Design, and Humanities Department. The north wing of Blanca Peak houses Veterinary Technology and Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources. A five-year $1.1 million federal TRIO Student Support Services grant will assist FRCC with providing essential services at the Westminster Campus to a growing population in Colorado of at-risk first-generation students.
July 2016: The Westminster Campus' construction and renovation plan that began with the opening of the Student Services Center in 2012 is declared complete. The last of the projects included upgrades to the Visual and Performing Arts Gallery, faculty offices, renovation of classrooms, construction of a Surgical Technology lab with two mock operating rooms, student lounges, and corridor upgrades.
August 2016: The renovated and expanded Mount Antero opens at the Larimer Campus. The building is a "one-stop" shop for the support services that help make students successful.
July 2017: A five-year $1.2 million federal TRIO Upward Bound grant will provide funding for FRCC staff to serve 60 Westminster High School students each year. The goal is to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate from institutions of postsecondary education.
August 2017: Renovation to the leased facility on Prospect Road in Fort Collins accommodates four programs: Licensed Practical Nursing (new), Medical Assisting (new), Emergency Medical Services, and a Law Enforcement Academy (new).
October 2017: A five-year, $2.2 million U.S. Department of Education Title III grant will support FRCC's efforts to provide more support to students so more students are successful. The highly competitive program helps eligible higher education institutions expand their capacity to serve low-income students. The award recognizes and supports FRCC's extensive student success efforts that began in 2014.
August 2019: The college opens its new Center for Integrated Manufacturing near the Boulder County Campus in Longmont. This state-of-the art facility is home to FRCC’s advanced manufacturing programs: automation & engineering technology, electronics engineering technology, optics technology and precision machining.
September 2019: FRCC’s Boulder County Campus completed a major renovation to its student spaces. The remodel to the Classroom Building included a new look for our welcome desk, café, campus store, library, student commons, student life office and campus security office. The project also added a new front patio and revamped outdoor courtyard in the center of the building. In the Administration Building, FRCC renovated two classrooms that now house the college’s new geospatial science program—which was the college’s very first bachelor’s degree offering.
August 2020: The new Health Care Careers Center opens at the Larimer Campus. The two-story, 61,000 square-foot Grays Peak building houses all current and future health care and nursing education programs. The state-of- the-art facility is designed to provide allied health and nursing students a high-tech learning environment with interactive simulators and realistic clinical space. It will allow FRCC’s Larimer Campus to continue to provide a highly-qualified workforce to meet local health care needs and to support anticipated job growth in health-related fields.
September 2022: FRCC establishes a taskforce to begin the college’s work to become a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution. Latinx students now make up about 1/4 of FRCC’s student body. Becoming an HSI is an intentional commitment to being a college where Latinx students thrive. This effort ties in directly to our mission, which is to enrich lives through learning—for all of our students equitably.
Fall 2022 - Fall 2023: FRCC opens a multicultural center on each of its three campuses. The centers focus on giving all students and employees a sense of belonging by dedicating physical spaces that provide engagement opportunities for historically underrepresented students and allies. This effort demonstrates the college’s commitment to supporting and promoting race and ethnicity, disability and gender awareness through programs that increase understanding and appreciation of multicultural and identity differences. The multicultural centers provide a diverse range of programs and opportunities that are educational, recreational, social and cultural.
December 2023: FRCC reopens its expanded dental clinic in the Grays Peak building at the Larimer Campus. Thanks to donations from the Colorado Health and Delta Dental of Colorado Foundations, the college was able to add 10 new dental operating units, as well as a sterilization room, dentist office and storage bays. The grant funding is supporting creation of a new Dental Hygiene program at the college, which will help address an ongoing shortage of registered dental hygienists in Colorado.