MARTINSBURG -- Shoppers ready to spend money and college students ready to spend time in class will soon be side by side at the Martinsburg Mall, the struggling Foxcroft Avenue retail hub that opened 18 years ago.

Mountain State University recently announced it is moving into the mall. However, the independent university did not disclose how much it is paying for the mall, which has been in receivership since last year when its Baltimore-based owner, Prime Retail Inc., defaulted on loan payments.

But Charles Polk, the president of Mountain State University, calls the idea of expanding by putting classroom space alongside retail stores in the city’s mall a wise business move for his growing school.

“There’s 13,000 square feet of space that we can convert into college use,” he said. “And then there’s all the space that’s never been built out — another 30,000 to 50,000 square feet. It makes a lot more sense to take this over rather than try to buy land and build.”

The plan is to close on the property in December and start holding classes there by next fall.

“We think it’s going to be good for our school, good for the mall and good for our community,” Polk said.

MSU has gone through name changes and other alterations since its founding in Beckley during the Great Depression. Now the not-for-profit institution has an enrollment of more than 6,000 students in both traditional classrooms and in distance-learning programs in West Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

Mountain State has offered classes in Martinsburg since 1999.

“Initially, our enrollment was minimal, primarily leadership students, and we rented a few rooms from Bruce Van Wyke on Foxcroft Avenue,” explained Layne Diehl, provost of the Martinsburg campus. “Then we moved to the Tanger Center a couple of years later and eventually bought the 55,000-square-foot center from Stan Tanger.”

The former Tanger Center, located a half-mile from the mall just off of Interstate 81, is now known as University Center. At the Martinsburg Mall, Diehl said, initial plans include a 13,000-square-foot integrated learning center, which will include computer portals, individual study areas, conference space, small classrooms and offices. The integrated learning center will be home to testing, online instruction, learning resources, tutoring and more.

“We hope to provide a unique atmosphere that complements and enhances the retail nature of the mall,” she said.

The Martinsburg branch of MSU now offers programs in nursing, business, legal studies and forensics. Fall enrollment stands at more than 1,300 full-time students, an increase of about 300 over last year, according to Diehl.

Diehl said the Martinsburg campus employs more than 100 adjunct faculty members in addition to 10 full-time faculty members and 16 full-time staff members.