First contracts signed for skilled trades building

An engineering firm and construction manager have been appointed for the building of Southwestern Community College’s new skilled trades building.

At about 15,000 square feet, the skilled trades center will be placed east of the existing Tech Center II building. The college has set a $5.3 million construction budget for the project.

Shive-Hattery was selected as the engineering firm for the trades center, costing the college an estimated $438,500. Vice President of Economic Development Wayne Pantini said the work included in this cost estimate is extensive.

“With that, the scope of services include the design development pieces, taking the construction documents to be ready to go out for bid, the bidding itself, and then it would just be the construction administration,” Pantini said. “The project plan of putting it all together, that will go through them.”

Hansen Company, Inc. has been decided as the construction manager as an advisor role, with an estimated cost of $485,000. Pantini said due to the college being a “frequent flier” with Hansen, the company is providing complimentary preconstruction services, valued at about $10,000.

The entire project is expected to take about 10 months, with construction starting in the late fall. Bids will go out in September and will be approved at the October board meeting.

Creston civil engineering firm Garden & Associates has also been tapped to work on what Pantini called “horizontal infrastructure.”

“They’ll be working on the parking lots and the sidewalks and work to blend that into our existing roadwork,” Pantini said. “The main parking area will be south of the building, east of where the welding lab is, and it will be integrated into that whole area there.”

Funds for the facility include $2 million from the Ace Infrastructure Fund, $2 million from SWCC’s Fund 7 Physical Plant Fund and $1 million from a state grant called the Career Academy Incentive Fund. According to SWCC’s website, “the grants support partnerships between community colleges, schools, industry and community stakeholders to empower more students with multiple pathways to postsecondary success.”

SWCC’s plan for this new learning center is to house the carpentry, electrical and EMS programs, accommodating both classroom and lab needs. Some of these classes were being held in the Ag Sciences building, but with the addition of the CDL program, the space is no longer able to accommodate all programs.

The upcoming skilled trades center is the second of three goals in the college’s master facilities plan. The first goal, a new transportation training center, has been completed, with a ribbon cutting being held in May. The third goal, athletic facility improvements, will come at a later date.