The facilities at Wayne State College have seen many updates in recent history, including three large construction projects taking place over the summer. The three new buildings to campus are the Center for Applied Technology (CAT), Criminal Justice Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory (CJCSI) and a new press box in the football stadium.

The CAT is a $15 million facility that is on schedule to be completed this fall so that everything can get moved into the building in time for classes to start this spring.
“October 15 is when the contractors are supposed to be pretty well wrapped up,” said Donald Buryanek, assistant professor of technology and applied science. “Then NATS (Network And Technology Services) will do all the video, cabling and stuff like that.”

In the CAT, there will be new labs including welding, manufacturing, construction and cabinet making, a power and energy, drafting, electronics and mechatronics room, computer robotics, a high-performance computing, computer hardware and networking. These rooms will be used to teach students from many subject areas, such as construction management, drafting/planning/design, skilled and technical sciences education and many more.

As well as having a wide variety of new work areas, the machines in the CAT will be new, state-of-the-art equipment. The CAT will also be available in some instances to high school students.“We will be able to attract high school students, as well as middle school and junior high students, for special events throughout the year,” said Timothy Garvin, professor of computer technology and information systems.

The criminal justice laboratory is a $340,000 facility that will provide criminal justice students with the opportunity to learn how to go about collecting and processing information and evidence at a crime scene. The opportunities do not stop there, though. The CJCSI building will bring new hands-on learning to a wide variety of programs.

The press box was intended to be updated, but upon further inspection it was decided that a new press box would be built. The new press box was a $3.7 million project. “Bringing a consultant on board and everything, we went through a process, and through that process [we] determined in needed to be fully replaced,” said Angela Fredrickson, vice president of administration and finance. “It was not salvageable. That process led us to where we are today, we are nearly substantially complete.”

“We are a little behind schedule,”said Michael Powicki, WSC athletics director. “It’s probably about 30 days behind schedule. The idea was to have it done in the first part of August. Some of the critical components have been tested and approved, such as fire alarms.”

During the Wayne High School game that took place Friday, the press box was at partial occupancy. This was not a problem for anyone, though, because a high school press box does not typically need as much room.

Powicki said that as long as the elevator can be tested and approved, the press box will be fully functional in time for tomorrow’s home opener. However, there will be some finishing touches within the press box itself.

“All-in-all, we are excited about the project,” Powicki said. “Yes, I would like to have it completely done before our first home game, but that being said, it has really turned out to be a great facility. When it is done it will be one of the best in the league (NSIC.) It’s really going to enhance the working space for our media, students and coaches. We have designed the press box so that we can use it year-round.”

The new press box adds substantial space, increasing from approximately 1,000 square feet to 5,500 square feet. The new press box has air conditioning as well as a large open space that will be used by donors or alumni to watch the game. The original press box was built in 1944. In 1965 to ’66 the press box that was utilized until this year remained.