HCC reveals plans to expand South Campus with new workforce center
Jun 5, 2015
Residents who live in near the Houston Community College (HCC) South Campus saw plans for the new Central South Workforce Center. They listened on as project managers and architects showed artist renderings of the new state-of-the-art facility during the June meeting of the Southeast Coalition of Civic Clubs.
“This is a dream come true for us,” said Bessie Swindle, Southeast Coalition of Civic Clubs president. “The flower is finally blooming for us.”
Swindle is talking about six years of discussion involving expanding the South Campus and creating more opportunities for students.
Christopher Oliver, HCC Trustee for District IX, grew up in the area and spoke about the growth of the campus. “This was like a field of dreams project, you build it, they will come and because we have done this, it has spurred additional economic growth and development that you’ve seen in this area.”
The new 65,000 square foot, two-story building will sit adjacent to the existing Willie Lee Gay Hall, named after the lifelong educator and distinguished historian. It will house Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics classes, as well as Machining, Welding, HVAC, CNC, Solar, and electrical laboratories.
“We are going to bring programs that align workforce opportunities with good paying career opportunities for our community with the students and the training they are receiving,” said Dr. Cesar Maldonado, HCC chancellor.
Trustee Oliver gave Dr. William Harmon, president of HCC Central College, credit for pushing the process along.
Dr. Harmon told community members, “If you have faith and you truly believe things are possible, this is what we can do. It is through your guidance that we now have reached a point that we will see something coming out of the ground.”
Next on the agenda for this project is the groundbreaking set for this summer-- with a target completion date of September 2016. The Central South Workforce Center is part of the $425M HCC Groundbreaker Bond Program. For more information on this project and others in progress, visit hccs.edu/bond.