MCCTC eager to get back on course after ’07 fire

A major addition planned before the fire is expected to be finished in early 2010.

CANFIELD — The Mahoning County Career & Technical Center is back to its pre-2007 fire size, and the construction work isn’t finished yet.

The school is getting a 35,000-square-foot expansion that was in the planning stages before its northwest wing was destroyed in May 2007.

The addition, which will link the main building with the nearby agriculture building, will house information-technology labs, classrooms, a conference center, a new entrance, board offices and some administrative offices, said Superintendent Roan Craig.

The school sustained a loss estimated at $14 million to $15 million in the fire, forcing it to temporarily consolidate operations into about 180,000 square feet from its original 220,000 square feet.

The entire building sustained extensive smoke damage, and phase one involved cleaning up the facility. Phase two involved rebuilding the destroyed wing, also a 35,000-square-foot project, and that work has been completed in time for the start of classes this fall, Craig said.

“This restores us to what we had originally,” she said, adding that phase three is the addition now under construction, which will allow the school to begin expanding program offerings, something it has been unable to do during the rebuilding period.

That work should be done in early 2010.

“Things are going to be a lot better,” said John Zehentbauer, career tech director. “People were kind of crammed into classrooms.”

The school population and adult enrollment numbers have remained steady despite the fire. The high school serves about 750, and adult education reaches around 1,200.

“After the fire, everyone really pitched in to help,” Zehentbauer said. “Everybody came together.”

Now that the burned-out wing has been replaced, everyone is anxious to get into that new space, he said. Instructors are calling every day to ask when they can get into their classrooms, he said.

The school has undergone a major upgrade in technology, Zehentbauer said.

The entire computer system was lost in the fire and has been replaced. The school’s telephone and security systems also have been upgraded, he said.

Craig said the entire project — from cleaning up the smoke-damaged areas to rebuilding the destroyed wing and adding the new wing — carries a price tag of between $14 million and $15 million, matching the claim for the fire loss.

The school borrowed the money to do the work and is facing an annual debt service of about $900,000 a year for 28 years to repay it.

MCCTC already had $9 million bankrolled before the fire to pay for the expansion. That, coupled with an annual budget surplus and interest earned on investing the project funds before they are spent, will cover the debt, school officials have said.

There are no plans to go to the taxpayers for additional funds to pay for the work, Craig said.

gwin@vindy.com