Wayne Community College has been given the green light to proceed with its first construction project in more than a decade.
The State Construction Office has authorized the college to proceed with its contract with the “design-build” team of Moseley Architects and Daniels and Daniels Construction Company for a new automotive and collision repair building.
The new 30,000 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.
“I am very happy that the contractor is a Wayne County company and that Daniels and Daniels and Moseley have great synergy and enthusiasm. They hit the ground running,” said WCC President Thomas A. Walker Jr.
“To say that we are excited to be a part of this design-build would be an understatement. The impact that this facility will have on our community gives this project special meaning to our entire team at Daniels and Daniels. We all know first-hand what Wayne Community College means for Goldsboro and Wayne County,” said Jeremiah Daniels, vice president for business development at Daniels and Daniels.
Bradley Lockwood, vice president with Moseley, concurred. “We are proud to be a part of this exciting collaboration with Wayne Community College. Our design-build team is focused on creating a vibrant and cost-effective facility that will help prepare WCC students for the workforce and attract new businesses to Wayne County. The new Automotive Collision Repair Building will undoubtedly be a facility the entire community will be proud of,” he said.
“Through the design-build delivery method, we will be able to recognize ownership in the process and provide value to the project from the very beginning. We are well underway already, and together with Wayne Community College and our design partner Moseley Architects, we are looking forward to a successful collaboration,” Daniels said.
Architect, contractor, and college personnel are meeting weekly to create a construction-ready plan. The goal is to have a schematic design package completed by the end of this month.
Construction is expected to begin early in the fall 2019 semester and be completed the following fall.
“We are excited about where we are,” said Dr. Ernie White, dean of WCC’s Applied Technologies Division. The Automotive Systems Technology and Collision Repair and Refinishing programs are part of his division.
“We chose design-build and this team for a reason,” said WCC Associate Vice President for Administrative Services Derek Hunter. “We’ve got the right builder and the premier designer for this application.”
The design-build project delivery method 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.
Design-build is typically a faster process, with some estimates that it can reduce the time from concept to completion by a third. “We’ve already made two months’ worth of progress in three weeks,” Hunter said.
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.
The WCC Board of Trustees agreed to the design-build concept, and in January, approved the contractor-architect team based on recommendations from its Building Committee after a bid process.
Since that time, the college has requested and received approval of the overall project from the State Construction Office, and now that office has approved the contract.
The State Construction Office has review and approval authority over the college’s major construction projects because although community colleges are owned and operated by their Boards of Trustees, they receive funding support from the State of North Carolina.
The budget for this construction 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.
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. Learn more at www.danddcc.com.
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. Get details at www.moseleyarchitects.com.
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.