Wayne State College is hoping to break ground in April with a new Center of Applied Technology (CAT), to be built in the parking lot east of Gardner Hall. Completion is scheduled for November 2018.
The current building used for Applied Technology is known as Benthack Hall.
“Benthack Hall has several structural and mechanical issues that need to be remedied,” Dean of Business and Technology Vaughn Benson said.
The new building will help Wayne State College address a scarcity of industrial technology teachers in the public schools.
“In the state of Nebraska, there is a major shortage of industrial technology teachers, and WSC has the only four-year program in industrial education in the state of Nebraska,” Benson said. “WSC has been asked to address the shortage and to do what is necessary to increase the number of ITE graduates and to provide graduates who can work as managers in the manufacturing industry.”
The building’s beginning budget is $15.2 million. The Applied Technology building will be 53,000 square feet. It will have 13 new labs for classes and two new classrooms.
Plans have not been finalized for any possible replacement of the parking lot to be used as the building site.
“For current and prospective Wayne State College students, it will provide a modern, spacious facility, while there will be multiple areas in the new building that will be designed specifically for students in CTIS academic programs,” construction committee member Timothy Garvin said. “A large portion of the facility will be designed to support instruction in manufacturing management, drafting, construction management, safety management and the preparation of industrial technology educators.”
The building will help Wayne State increase the number of industrial technology majors, offering them the technology they need to learn proper techniques to give students the best possible knowledge for the field.