History indicates that when a community college "single college district" opens a new campus center, that center tends to follow one of two different patterns of development. The new campus typically either remains in the subordinate role of a center forming a "single college multi-campus district" or it develops into a comprehensive college creating a "multi-college district." The form that the center takes is influenced by a variety of environmental, social, political, and economic forces. To determine how these forces work together to influence the future structure of a community college, a case study was undertaken at a community college operating two centers that, due to high demand, were operating at capacity. Data were collected from college documents; interviews with board of trustee members, staff, and community residents; observations of planning committee meetings; and a literature review. Study findings suggested that a center is likely to break free from the parent college to become a comprehensive college if the following conditions exist: (1) a parent college has reached its growth potential; (2) the governance structure provides participatory governance and empowerment of the center faculty and staff; (3) the round-trip travel time between the parent campus and the center exceeds 1 hour; (4) the community in which the center is located develops a strong identity and key community players demand "ownership" of the center; and/or (5) resources become available either through state funding or through business and industry partnerships. (Author/HAA)