GCTC Dedicates New Edgewood Facilities Friday; Kentucky Education Secretary, KCTCS President to Participate
, - August 20, 2009
Gateway Community and Technical College will formally dedicate its new Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Center and Student Services Center in a public ceremony Friday at 2 p.m. at its Edgewood Campus, 790 Thomas More Parkway.
Helen W. Mountjoy, cabinet secretary for Kentucky’s Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, and Michael B. McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, will participate. The dedication also will feature a special presentation to the family of the late Henry E. Pogue IV.
“The Edgewood Campus opened in 1984 as the Henry E. Pogue IV Health Occupations Center in recognition of the significant impact Mr. Pogue had on education during his many years as chair of the state board of education,” said G. Edward Hughes, GCTC president/CEO. “We are pleased to have his family join us to help dedicate our new and expanded facilities at this campus."
The new facilities are helping the college accommodate a double-digit increase in enrollment. “Preliminary estimates show enrollment up by 23 percent this fall compared to a year ago,” Hughes said. “The growth reflects several factors: the economic downturn that has sent students back to school to obtain new or updated skills; our new regional accreditation that enables students to start here and transfer anywhere; and our continuing efforts to offer education that prepares students for good jobs that help local businesses compete in a global economy.”
In recognition of the college’s global vision, people who attend the dedication will receive a gift card allowing them to visit the Seed-the-Future.com website to plant three trees in reforestation projects around the globe. Provided by the Gateway Community and Technical College Foundation, the cards can then be planted to grow wildflowers in local yards.
“Our vision and our local involvement are both intended to help improve the world in which we live,” Hughes explained. “Thanks to the GCTC Foundation, this small gift can have a meaningful impact on our global environment.”
The Edgewood Campus was expanded in a $16 million state-funded project that broke ground in October 2006. The project involved building a new, 50,000-square-foot Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Center that houses technically advanced instructional and lab space for nursing programs, sciences, adult and developmental education and general education.
The original 30,000-square-foot building was completely renovated as part of the project and turned into a one-stop resource center for student services. The Student Services Center includes classrooms for medical assisting, medical information technology, and massage therapy programs; labs; and a library services center, as well as offices for advising, admissions, student records, financial aid, student support services, disability services and administrative offices.
“The project culminated this summer with the addition of more parking spaces to accommodate our growth,” Hughes said. “Now that the initiative is complete, we are inviting the public in to see what a versatile educational resource has been created on the Edgewood Campus.”
The project was created by GCTC faculty and staff and designed by the Lexington architectural firm of EOP, with Brent Brunner as the principal architect. The building won the 2008 Kentuckiana Masonry Institute CMU Honor Award for EOP. Hemmer Industries of Florence was the general contractor. |
