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SALISBURY -- Officials at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College say they are using more than $15 million in bond and grant money for major renovations of the school’s two campuses, including a new Fire and Emergency Services Training Facility at the North campus in Salisbury.
Rowan County voters approved a $12 million bond referendum in 2010 for the North Campus, and that will provide the bulk of the money for the expansion at that site.
College officials say they plan to break ground in January for the Fire and Emergency Services building, with completion scheduled for next summer. Work at the North campus also includes construction of a 30,000-square-foot addition to the allied health building, and conversion of an administrative building to instructional use.
Jonathan Chamberlain, Chief Officer of Planning, Capital Projects and Environmental Operations, says the construction schedule will be staggered, because the school does not have enough facilities to shut down many rooms and buildings at one time. That means the allied health building work won’t be completed until 2014, he said.
“Space is at a premium at the college, which makes renovations difficult,” Chamberlain said. “You have to move classes out of buildings and fine new temporary homes for them.
“Ideally, when space is tight, you construct a new building, move staff and students into it, then renovate the older buildings. However, the funding is not there to construct an entirely new building.”
School officials say the South Campus, in Concord, will get improvements to the OneStop and Student Center facilities in 2013.
