By Jate Britton
Videographer
Since 2020, there have been 17 completed bond construction projects, and three are currently in progress according to Chris Sharp, the Vice President of Business Affairs at Amarillo College.
Danny Smith, the Master Plan Program Director for Amarillo College, said, “The only one of the 17 that does not have a certificate of completion is the innovation outpost. and it already has partial certificates of completion, but we’re still doing a little bit of work in the food court area, and then it will be complete.” Regarding the WARE building, Joe Wyatt, the Communications Coordinator at Amarillo College, said, “The WARE building is still in the early stages because it’s such a massive renovation within the building. They have to do a lot of deconstruction before they can turn around and start the construction.”
Among the various construction projects planned for this year, the WARE Student Commons will receive one of the more major remodels.
“This includes reconfiguration of the first, third and fourth floors. Demolition to the north side of the first floor, and the entire third floor is already complete. Once construction on the third floor is complete, the library will be moved to this floor, and demolition and construction of the fourth floor will begin,” Sharp said.
According to both Smith and Sharp, the WARE Student Commons building should be complete around mid February 2025, and building B for the Health Science Simulation Center sometime around April 2025.
Wyatt said about future projects, ”We have a big project going on over on Plain Boulevard: The First Responders Academy. We’re going to have classes in there this fall for the first time, so that’s a big finished project. Although there’s still some landscaping on the exterior that can still be undertaken.”
After years of complications—due to issues regarding rising material costs amongst many others—delays are the last thing these projects need.
“One of the things that I’m going to work on is to request for proposals for architects to start another master plan to complete all of the work. Because we didn’t get everything done on this master plan, we had a lot of problems. In March 2020, everybody on campus started working from home because of COVID, and COVID killed us. Prices were through the the roof, and they never came back down,” Smith said.
Alongside major remodeling projects still underway, the reopening of 24th Street includes the implementation of a roundabout, as well a revamped bridge.
“24th St. will be opening soon, this project addresses drainage issues and adds a roundabout to slow traffic down in this high-pedestrian area. The bridge was rehabbed and painted, with new signs being installed on both sides. We will continue to work on making the main street of our campus a safe and beautiful area.” Sharp said.
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