Roane State Community College will have a June 5 groundbreaking ceremony for the new Allied Health Sciences and Technology Building at the Oak Ridge campus.
The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the campus, which is located at 701 Briarcliff Ave.
“The expansion will provide opportunities for Roane State students for years to come,” Roane State President Gary Goff said in a press release. “Tremendous community support made the project possible, and we look forward to celebrating with the community as we begin construction.”
The three-story, 64,000-square-foot building will give Roane State the space to offer new programs such as surgical technology and medical lab technology. It will include a “flex lab,” which can be easily configured to suit the training needs of area industries.
Roane State’s occupational therapy assistant program will be housed in the new building, giving students in that program access to larger and more sophisticated labs.
The new building will also have additional space for nursing students, massage therapy students and pharmacy technician students. The building will include faculty offices and two large stadium-style classrooms for academic courses and community use.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $13.8 million. Through the support of the Oak Ridge and Anderson County communities, Roane State raised $2.5 million for the expansion during a campaign from 2008-2010, the press release said. The state of Tennessee will provide matching funds of $9 million.
The college also has committed $1.3 million to add the shell for the third story, and the state legislature approved $1 million to finish the third level.
The building is expected to be complete in the fall of 2013.
Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus opened in 1999. Originally designed for 1,800 students, the campus now has approximately 2,700 students, the release said.
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