Construction on the new Peter Miller Community Technology Center is well under way.
Access to Building F, the Cultural Centre, which houses the auditorium as well as two classrooms, has been completely shut off since the beginning of March.
In preparation for laying the foundation of the new building, workers have torn up the sidewalk area outside the auditorium entrance and fenced off the surrounding area, including the main entrance to the school. A new entrance has been built between Admissions and Financial Aid.
In addition to the new building itself, geothermal wells are scheduled to be drilled starting the week of April 9. These wells will serve as an environmentally friendly system for heating and cooling the new building.
Originally scheduled for 304 wells, each one 302 feet deep, that number has been reduced to 192 wells at 500 feet. This change will make the system more efficient, according to school officials.
An early stint of warm weather has helped the progress of construction.
“Everything seems to be going very well regarding the construction project. The weather has been terrific so far which has allowed the contractor to make great overall progress,” said IVCC president Jerry Corcoran.
The Peter Miller Community Technology Center is scheduled to be finished by the fall of 2013 with classes starting January 2014.
The new building will allow more student life area as well as allow some programs on the East Campus to move. Some East Campus buildings, which were built as “temporary” buildings in the 1970s, will then be torn down.
Other construction projects around the school are progressing just as well as the CTC building.
According to Corcoran, “The work that’s taking place in Building G on converting the upper gym into a massage therapy lab is also going well. That plan calls for the project to be finished this summer so that we’re good to go for fall semester classes.”
Corcoran believes the cooperation of everybody involved is the driving factor in the success of the construction.
“The bottom line is we have wonderfully-dedicated employees who are working closely with the contractor, Capital Development Board and our architect so, like everything else in life, when you have good people working together with common goals, good things happen.”