ANNA - Shawnee Community College has spent $1.5 million to turn Anna's former Wal-Mart storefront into an expanded education extension and fitness center for students.

The 19,500 square-foot facility sitting along East Vienna Street (Illinois 146) in Anna is expected to open by January, in time for students to attend spring semester classes there, officials said. The current Shawnee extension center, on the Choate Mental Health and Development Center campus on Anna's north side, will close at the end of the fall semester.

The new center will have 11 regular classrooms, two computer labs, four "Smart" classrooms, one GED classroom, two distance learning classrooms, 650 square feet of conference space and more than 2,000 square feet dedicated as a fitness center. The building also allows for more than 1,400 square feet of space for future expansion. The Union County Economic Development Corporation will also be based out of the building.

Mike Fitzgerald, director of the Anna Extension Center, said everything in the facility will be new.

"New furniture in the classrooms, new fitness equipment; it is going to be something that the entire community, and even surrounding communities, can benefit from," Fitzgerald said.

College President Larry Peterson said the investment is significant for both the community and the college.

"I cannot over emphasize how nice this center will be," Peterson said.

"I think a lot of people are going to be amazed when this center opens," said college board trustee Wesley Wright of Anna. "Not only will it be a state-of-the-art facility, but it is going to provide new educational and fitness opportunities for a lot more people."