June 23, 2008
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Gadsden State construction still on schedule CENTRE — Last Wednesday, June 18, I had the pleasure of being shown the progress of the new Gadsden State Community College (GSCC) campus here in Centre. I met with Sandy Brown, the construction manager, and Chris Robinson, an official from GSCC, at 10 a.m. to begin my tour.I was first shown Phase III of the project, the arena, which is being built by McCorey Construction. The arena will be finished Oct. 31, the spookiest day of the year. All the walls are up, the concrete for the 2,000 seats has been set, and the facility gained permanent power June 19. I mentioned that the arena here is nicer than the gym for the Gadsden campus. No one disagreed. The GSCC basketball is scheduled to play several games in the as-yet unnamed arena, once it is finished. The arena also has a conference area, which is one big room, with an adjoining kitchen. “There will be a big divider hanging in the middle so the room can be split up,” Brown said. The Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce will move in to the arena sometime in November. The layout of their area is four rooms. There will be one large room in back, with three rooms up front. The one in the middle looks like it will be a lobby, with an office on either side. There is a covered walkway connecting the arena to the education building. There will also be a covered walkway connecting the arena to the 500-seat theatre, which is to be built during Phase IV. There is no set date to begin construction of Phase IV. The education building will be ready for the start of fall classes. Final inspection is set to take place today, June 23. The building looks clean and professional. When I first walked into the place, my nostrils were filled with the pleasant aroma of “new building”. Buckner Construction is responsible for this fine job. The first floor holds the administration offices, library, kitchen, bookstore, general education classrooms and a very nice, tiered classroom. The county's new economic development office will be in the right wing. On the second floor, I saw the nursing lab, microbiology lab, biology lab, regular classrooms and a student lounge. Many of the rooms I could not enter because they had been freshly waxed. Both the academic building and arena have elevators. The outside of the building pleases the eye with a red brick façade and the letters “GADSDEN STATE” posted above the entrance on both sides. The columns underneath the letters add a nice touch. The entrances from the road have a circle-around drop-off area. Both buildings are handicap accessible. Some grass has already been laid. Once Phase III is finished there will be 496 parking spaces in the complex. Brown, who hails from Florida, said he has worked construction for 40 years. “This is about an average sized job for me,” he said. “Everything has gone well. There have been no set backs.” Although this is an average job for Brown, this is one of the nicest and largest projects to ever tear the soil of Cherokee County. Brown said that he told one of his friends who knew the area about the project, and his friend's first question was, “Why are they building that in Centre?” |