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It was touted as a panacea for bringing life to downtown Mesa.

But college officials say rising construction costs and the chance to plan a new program at a single site pushed them to move expansion plans for Mesa Community College to its main Fiesta district campus instead.

That recent decision is bittersweet for City Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, whose own district could reap the benefits of the latest move, but he wonders what will become of planning efforts for the downtown area.

"A lot of us who understand successful downtowns almost always see a strong educational component there to help bring that critical mass of people," Kavanaugh said, adding that is why downtown Phoenix is pinning its hopes on the success of Arizona State University's presence.

The councilman's ties to MCC's plans for Mesa run deep.

About five years ago when he was vice mayor, Kavanaugh, along with former MCC president Larry Christiansen, helped sell the dream of a vibrant downtown by injecting a chunk of student population on the streets.

The sales pitch got the nod from the Maricopa County Community College District governing board and led to the project's inclusion in a successful 2004 bond package bid.

Now, Kavanaugh says he's relieved that a new program, called the P-20, aimed across the board from preschoolers to graduate students, is still on. But the shift may have deeper ramifications for the city.

"I understand that circumstances change," Kavanaugh said.

"Unfortunately, in this case the city's planning was predicated on having a downtown campus."

Vice Mayor Kyle Jones said he, too, would have preferred a downtown campus, but he understood the college's need to not delay things.

MCC President Shouan Pan said the decision to expand near Longmore was made recently, cemented by their purchase of two new buildings — a Fuddruckers and a Harkins theater.

College officials say the P-20 program will take two years to design and build.

It's a partnership between MCC, the Mesa Unified School District and Northern Arizona University.

Of the $20 million set aside for the program, MCC will spend $10 million from bond money, and $10 million will come from the Mesa school district. About $8 million more is expected to come through space leased by Northern Arizona University.