ICC's apartment complex full for first time
<p align="justify">Illinois Central College's on-campus apartments are filled to capacity for the first time ever, a milestone for the three-year-old facility that was only half full in its first year of operation.
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<p align="justify">Called WoodView Commons, the apartments are next to the main academic building on the East Peoria campus. There are 330 units in five buildings.
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<p align="justify">"I think that (WoodView Commons) really offers students an opportunity to enhance their ICC experience. So many students, when they go to a community college, they really feel a disjuncture … WoodView offers them quite a bit in terms of programming and interaction," said the facility's housing director Christina Connolley.
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<p align="justify">There's a small waiting list of two to three people, Connolley said, and she sees that list growing to as many as 30 people next fall.
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<p align="justify">"We're still getting interest every day. We're getting phone calls. People are coming in," Connolley said Wednesday.
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<p align="justify">There are three floor plans - an unfurnished two-person efficiency, a furnished two-bedroom, and a furnished four-bedroom apartment.
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<p align="justify">Rent for the apartments is about $500 a month, depending on the size.
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<p align="justify">The apartment complex includes a clubhouse with a large-screen television, on-site laundry and a study area. There is also a sports court for tennis, basketball or volleyball.
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<p align="justify">Matt Schreiner, 19, started living at WoodView Commons this fall. He's from Lincoln and didn't want to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to school.
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<p align="justify">"It's fairly new facilities, a real nice place, close to campus. You're not having to get up at 6 in the morning to drive to get here. ... They have a pool here, basketball courts, tennis courts, pretty much anything you'd want to do," said Schreiner, who is in a program to become a diesel technician at Caterpillar Inc.
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<p align="justify">ICC has left open the possibility of expansion, but Bruce Budde, college vice president for financial affairs, said it's not being contemplated yet.
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<p align="justify">"If our waiting list got really significant or something like that, that might really push that second phase," Budde said Wednesday.
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<p align="center">Clare Jellick can be reached at (309) 686-3112 or cjellick@pjstar.com.
<p align="justify">ois Cen