Technical college to open in 2010 By Jeff Moreland After more than eight months of planning for the new Springfield campus of the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, an announcement came on Monday that the new facility is on schedule, and construction should begin in the spring of 2008. Martha Tarrant, president of Ross Tarrant Architects Inc. of Lexington, was in Springfield Monday to discuss the progress with community leaders and members of a local advisory committee on the steps that will lead up to the completion of the new college. The new college will carry a price tag of $14.5 million, and will be located in Springfield’s Clearview Commerce Center where it will serve communities, businesses and industries from Washington, Marion and Nelson counties and beyond. “We’ve been working on the project since the very end of January, and we spent approximately the first two months of the project working on the programming phase,” Tarrant told the committee. “That began with us meeting with the college steering committee and the department heads and faculty representatives to talk about what programs they wanted to teach in this new facility.” From there, Tarrant said the college’s faculty met with industry leaders from Washington County to determine which programs would most benefit the industrial needs of the community. Tarrant gave a brief synopsis of the layout of the new building, which will feature 51,980 total square feet. She explained that a machine tool and die training area will consume 11,850 square feet, which is the largest portion of the 32,260 square feet that will be used for the college’s actual programs. Industrial electricity will use 4,710 square feet, and 7,230 square feet will make up classroom space. Other space will be used for faculty offices, administration and student services and other necessary offices. “I’m very pleased with the progress that has been made this summer,” said Dr. Thelma White, president/CEO of ECTC. “We have identified the initial programs that will be taught on the Springfield campus, and Ross Tarrant Architects Inc. has designed a building that will be both beautiful and functional. “Our focus over the next several months will be to prepare for the construction phase and select the team of professionals that will build the facility. If there are no major delays, our new campus will be completed in the fall of 2009 and classes will begin in January of 2010.” ECTC plans to offer a variety of technical and specialized training programs at the Springfield campus, including machine tool, tool and die, industrial maintenance, basic electricity, electrical construction and motor controls. The college will also offer continuing education courses for area professionals and non-credit, personal enrichment classes for local citizens. ECTC will partner with St. Catharine College to ensure that ECTC students have access to general education classes. An administrative support team for the new campus will be hired prior to its opening.
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