TCTC breaks ground for $5.4M expansion

The career and technical center now rents space in Lordstown.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CHAMPION -- The Trumbull County Career and Technical Center's programs will be reuniting under one roof here next June with the opening of a $5.4 million addition to the center's building.
"We are embarking on a journey to keep the citizens of Trumbull County independent, proud and employed," said Robert Lackey, career center board president, at a ceremonial groundbreaking for the addition Wednesday.
Building for citizens
"This facility will be a state-of-the-art educational center built for and by the citizens of Trumbull County," said Lackey, who is also president of the Liberty Board of Education.
Lackey added that the new structure will embody the career center's motto: "We keep Trumbull County working."
Actual construction will begin later this month or in early September, said Wayne McClain, TCTC superintendent. McClain said he hopes the structure can be enclosed by November to allow work to proceed inside it during the winter.
At Wednesday's event, Lackey and McClain were joined by state Reps. Sandra Stabile Harwood of Niles, D-65th and Randy Law of Warren, R-64th, Warren Mayor Michael O'Brien, local school officials and representatives of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber.
When the Gordon James Career Center in Lordstown closed three years ago, four new school districts joined TCTC, taking all available space for high school education at the Champion facility and forcing TCTC to relocate its adult education program to the James building. Nineteen Trumbull County school districts participate in TCTC, Howland being the only exception.
TCTC is paying $233,000 this year to rent the James building, up from $218,000 last year.
Details of addition
The new two-story, 44,000-square-foot addition to the Champion building will be owned by TCTC. Located on the south side of the existing building, it will be similar in appearance to the existing structure but have a separate entrance.
The addition will feature wireless computer access capability, a student commons and landscaped interior courtyard. TCTC will borrow money to build the addition and repay it over 27 years, McClain said. No additional tax levy or bond issue is needed, he added.
A new parking lot will be created south of the addition on what is now a soybean field.
The architects and engineers are GPD Associates of Akron, and the construction managers are the R.P. Carbone Co. of Cleveland.
Cheryl Kistler, a member of the Lordstown and TCTC boards of education, said Lordstown school officials are exploring a variety of options for use of the James building after TCTC's adult program leaves, and they may use it for classroom space for the Lordstown district.