$3.8M CTC facility unveiled; classrooms added

Cape Girardeau School District staff and administrators unveiled the Career and Technology Center’s recently completed facility expansion during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.

The $3.8 million, 25,000 square-foot facility was built behind the main building on the CTC campus at 1080 S. Silver Springs Road and will add eight classrooms, three computer labs, a health-care lab and a science lab.

It also will house the Cape College Center, a collaboration involving Southeast Missouri State University, Three Rivers College and Mineral Area College.

Cape Girardeau schools superintendent James Welker said the facility’s opening represented the culmination of eight years of work, beginning with the formulation of the district’s long-range facility plan.

Since then, he said, there have been two bond issues to help the district pursue its facility goals, the latter of which funded the new classrooms.

“[The new facility] certainly is a symbol of the commitment this community has for students,” he said. “And for providing opportunities; both for our students and for students around the region.”

CTC director Rich Payne praised Cape Girardeau architect Phillip Smith and Brockmiller Construction for their work on the project, which he said made the building feel more modern and less “institutionalized.”

He also said since students include high-schoolers as well as adults seeking new skills to re-enter the labor force, the new building will help the CTC and Cape College Center produce a more qualified pool of workers for local businesses.

Students in the CTC’s physical-therapy assistant program already have begun using the new facility. Several were present Friday to greet visitors.

Physical-therapy assistant students Kelci Duncan and Darrian Gayle said the new facility is a marked improvement over the facility in Doctors’ Park where their classes previously were.

“It’s really nice to be closer to the actual school than where we were,” Duncan said.

They’ll graduate in August, and Gayle said completing the program represents an important life goal for her, one which she hopes will soon after help her find a better job.

Tinea Ortega, Cape College Center academic coordinator, said there weren’t words to describe how pleased they are with the new facility.

“Before, we were running everything out of three classrooms,” she said. “This doubles our space. ... This building is life-changing for our students.”

The Cape College Center will conduct a few summer courses in the new building, but offer more programming in the fall than they would otherwise have been able.

During the ceremony, Welker also thanked incoming superintendent Neil Glass, who could not attend, for his leadership throughout the process, in helping to conceive of the facility and helping pass the bond issue necessary to fund the project.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

1080 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.