Wayne Community College will start construction on its new Automotive and Collision Repair Building next week.
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Monday, June 17, on the construction site on the north side of the college’s main campus in Goldsboro. It will mark the beginning of WCC’s first construction project in more than a decade.
The college is ready for construction to begin, said Dr. Thomas A. Walker Jr., college president, “We had a lot of good things happen to us over the past few years. Now we are eager to have some brick and mortar accomplishments.”
Walker invited the public to join the college in launching the project.
WCC is using the design-build delivery method which has the team of Daniels and Daniels Construction Company and Moseley Architects working closely together and with college personnel to create a design that meets the needs of the programs and stays within the college’s budget.
That design was completed with a rendering presented to the WCC Board of Trustees at its May meeting.
The college has received its site permit from the City of Goldsboro and can begin moving dirt, said WCC Associate Vice President for Administrative Services Derek Hunter.
The site has been surveyed and is ready for “site prep” and creation of the building pad. The location is currently used as a parking lot, so the first obvious movement will be removal of the pavement.
The project is on schedule and construction is expected to be ready for occupancy early in Fall 2020, in time for that semester’s classes to be held in the building.
“We’re pushing to be ready for Fall 2020,” said Jeremiah Daniels, vice president for business development at Daniels and Daniels. “I feel good about that and I’m feeling good about the budget.”
The budget for this project is $7 million. It will utilize most of what remains of WCC’s allotment from the Connect NC Bond that voters approved in 2016 as well as county funds and a donation for “equipment and student enhancement” from the college’s foundation.
The approximately 34,000 square-foot building will bring all of the college’s automotive and collision repair classrooms, bays, work rooms, and offices under one roof. They are currently spread through four buildings around a vehicle containment lot.
“We’re not creating the Taj Mahal but we are building a state-of-the-art center of functionality for the purpose of automotive and collision repair,” said Hunter.
The front of the building will be conventional construction and the rear will be a pre-engineered building with accommodations for possible expansion. It was designed for maximum flexibility and will feature open spaces that can be used for meetings and training, collaboration space for students, classrooms on a mezzanine which overlook lab spaces, and a lobby with an automotive showroom feel.
Special accrediting requirements from partner automotive manufacturers have also been factored into the design.
The project is unique in the NC Community College System because WCC is the first among the 58 member institutions to pursue the design-build delivery method in conjunction with State Construction Office oversight. Design-build offers the benefit of a single contract and the advantage of the architect and contractor working together from the start of the project, with the architect employed by the contractor, not the college.
About Daniels and Daniels
Daniels and Daniels Construction Company is a North Carolina-based construction firm with over 50 years’ experience building a variety of projects for public and private clients in the Carolinas.
About Moseley Architects
Moseley Architects provides comprehensive professional architectural, engineering, and interior design solutions to clients seeking responsive and reliable facility planning and design services, as well as specialized expertise. The firm has provided professional architecture and engineering services for over 100 collegiate projects. It has offices in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
About WCC
Wayne Community College is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves 12,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 70 college credit programs. WCC’s mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.