ATLANTA – State Representative Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine) commented today on upcoming renovation plans for the Altamaha Technical College (ATC) campus in Camden County. Last year, the General Assembly appropriated $1 million in the Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) State Budget to renovate unused space at the College of Coastal Georgia Camden campus. According to a recent Board of Regents study, the College of Coastal Georgia Camden campus has three times more opportunity to take advantage of unused space. This unused space will allow Altamaha Tech to expand their technical programs inside the Camden Campus to meet immediate local workforce development needs and increase the number of enrollees in the school’s technical programs.
“A high priority need exists in the community for technical education and in order to meet that need, the $1 million dollars was appropriated to renovate space inside the current building,” said Rep. Spencer. “Many in the community have asked why are we renovating this space inside the College of Coastal Georgia-Camden Campus and not constructing a brand new building for a separate technical division instead. Existing underutilized resources dictate that we should focus more on the immediate need of training people with the proper skills to enter the workforce, rather than focusing on constructing a new building that would add more cost to the taxpayer. We must be good stewards and identify the unused resources we have available to our community; not doing so would be irresponsible and wasteful. Eventually, a new campus may be realized when more industry is secured for the area, but until then, this renovation will address some pressing needs.”
This renovation project includes an approximate 3,000 square foot addition to the existing College of Coastal Georgia Camden Center. The new construction will be used primarily for the new Cosmetology program, which will include new classroom and lab areas to support the program, as well as additional renovations to existing labs and classrooms. There will also be a small administrative services and student services area included in the new construction area to better serve ATC students.
Additionally, ATC will begin offering an Engineering Technology program to help with local naval base employment needs. Renovations will also be made to the College of Coastal Georgia Chemistry Lab, which will be used for classes for this new program.
Expanding ATC’s presence in the current facility is congruent with the state’s initiative to put more emphasis on education, technical training and developing the region’s workforce. Furthermore, ATC will be merging with Okefenokee Technical College in July 2014 to become Coastal Pines Technical College. New signage at the facility will reflect a dual use of the Camden facility between the two educational institutions. Below is the proposed design and construction schedule for the ATC renovation:
The Proposed Design and Construction Schedule:
• Predesign Services (April 1, 2014 through April 14, 2014)
• Schematic Design Services (April 15, 2014 through June 5, 2014)
• Design Development Services (June 6, 2014 through July 31, 2014)
• Construction Documents Services (August 1, 2014 through October 3, 2014)
• Bidding (October 6, 2014 through November 4, 2014)
• Construction (November 21, 2014 through July 27, 2015)
• Move-in (July 28, 2015 through August 25, 2015)
• Anticipated First Day of Class (Fall 2015)
Altamaha Technical College is located in Jesup, with satellite campuses in Baxley, Hazlehurst, Kingsland, and Brunswick. Altamaha Tech provides postsecondary education programs in fields ranging from business technology and industrial technology to health sciences and personal services. The school’s mission is to meet the future economic challenges of southeast Georgia. Altamaha Tech is part of the Technical College System of Georgia, which is administered by the Technical College System of Georgia.
Representative Jason Spencer represents the citizens of District 180, which includes Camden, Charlton, and Ware counties. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2010, is currently serving on the Game Fish & Parks, Human Relations & Aging, Juvenile Justice, and Special Rules committees.
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