LORAIN — A commitment from Lorain County Community College to remain a tenant of St. Joseph Community Center for another six months is another step toward saving the center, officials said Thursday.

LCCC has committed to keeping its satellite learning center there through June 2010, with a possible additional two-year extension past June.

When South Shore Development Corp. announced in April that, after a decade of ownership, it couldn’t afford to operate the center any longer, city officials began a multi-pronged approach to save the center and its many tenants.

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center Outpatient Clinic and LCCC are the two anchor tenants at the center. The VA has approximately 11 years left on its lease.

Last month, City Council gave Mayor Tony Krasienko and his staff 180 days to meet with South Shore and come up with a plan to purchase the building or take over its management.

“We will maintain our current lease and current operations through June of 2010,” said Marcia Ballinger, vice president Strategic and Institutional Development at LCCC. “We are willing to extend the lease based upon the due diligence that occurs.”

LCCC’s commitment is critical, Service Director Robert Gilchrist said.

“I’m excited about the future of St. Joe’s and its ability to be a sustainable and viable project,” Gilchrist said. “This commitment from the college is one step closer toward overall success.”

Big contributors to South Shore’s financial difficulty with the center are high utility bills and too few tenants.

The city has set aside between $400,000 and $500,000 of a $700,000 grant to upgrade the HVAC system at the center.

Other steps taken by Gilchrist and the transition team formed by Krasienko in April include a two-year deferment of electric bills totaling more than $686,000, possible deferments on loans from the state, securing additional tenants and encouraging current tenants to expand their space.

None of the existing tenants have told the city they’re leaving, and “at least two outside tenants are serious about moving in” Gilchrist said, adding at least one existing tenant has also expressed interest in expanding.

He declined to elaborate on who the new tenants might be and which current ones might expand.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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