The new structure will be the first expansion since the original three buildings opened in 2016 on Liberty Pike in Franklin, creating opportunities for enrollment growth, new community partnerships and additional course offerings.
"It is a good day to build a project that is going to change lives and that's what this building will do," said Janet F. Smith, president of Columbia State Community College, during a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday.
Smith took control of an excavator, moving earth to make way for the new building.
The 41,000 square-foot building is the fourth to be built at the Williamson campus, which will house classrooms, labs and a student engagement space for existing and new workforce-oriented programs.
Programs in information technology, networking, cyber defense, data analytics, art and graphic design will all be housed at the campus.
The new site will also host a licensed practical nursing program in partnership with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Dickson campus in which students can earn a nursing assistant certificate and other certificates taught at the Williamson campus.
The building is also planned to house a 150-seat flexible instructional space with theater-style seating and a small stage.
"It's not just a building, but it's building an opportunity for students to come and study in areas that will be their occupation that will make a living for them, their families and contribute to this community," Smith said. "It'll allow us to do some programs we haven't done before."
The college plans to open the new building for students in spring 2023.
Plans for the building moved forward after funds for the new facility were included in Gov. Bill Lee's state budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year.
Lee's proposal allocated $26,980,000 in state funds for the project, requiring the college to raise $950,000 in local funding to pay for the remainder of the new building's total expected cost.
"We will now begin working with our community to make that match because now they can see the reality of it," Smith said.
Dearl Lampley, Columbia State vice president of the Williamson Campus and external services, said the building will provide much-needed space at the campus.
"We were desperate for space," Lampley said. "This campus was at capacity from day one, and we were 20% overcapacity. We had converted seminar rooms, and we actually converted a large closet to a lab. It's so tough when you're restricted the space that you just tend to do the high demand courses that help students get started and labor is one such benefit to offer things that make their experience here, more interactive, more engaging and enhance the college experience."
Columbia State's $48 million Williamson County campus opened in June 2016, with the late Rep. Charles Sargent, R- Franklin, leading the charge to construct the institution. The campuses' arts and humanities building is named after Sargent.
The college began serving Williamson County in 1971 and moved into a permanent location at the AT&T building at Independence Square in Franklin in 1985. In 1994, CSCC moved into the building on Claude Yates adjacent to the Franklin High School campus in Franklin, where it stayed in cramped quarters until the new campus was completed in May 2016.
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