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| Motorsports facility in bond issue |
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Friday, April 25, 2008
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Bonds for a nearly $8.715 million building to house Patrick Henry Community College’s motorsports program and work force development programs are in the bond package approved by the General Assembly on Wednesday.
Gov. Tim Kaine has 30 days to sign the nearly $1.5 billion bond package measure, according to PHCC President Max Wingett. Construction can begin as soon as that happens because the legislation passed with an emergency clause, The Associated Press reported.
“We will need to get our architect in place and start the planning phase as soon as he signs it,” Wingett said. “We will move as soon as possible.”
Architectural services will be put out to bid, and once an architect is chosen, plans will be drawn and a site chosen on the 137-acre campus, Wingett said. There is no timetable for the work to be completed, he added.
The 40,000-square-foot building will house the motorsports program that now is located at Arrington Manufacturing’s facility in the Patriot Centre industrial park, not far from the college. That program has 50 to 60 students enrolled, Wingett said, adding that it has attracted interest from students in Virginia and elsewhere.
“It’s difficult when you have a program that’s off campus, or part on and part off campus,” he said. “This will bring everything together.”
Motorsports is a growing program, and PHCC has the only such program in Virginia, he said. However, Old Dominion University is creating a bachelor’s degree in engineering related to motorsports that will offer a junior and senior year program at PHCC, possibly starting this fall, he said.
The new building also will house work force development programs, Wingett said.
In addition to higher education, the bond package approved Wednesday includes funds for state parks and mental health facilities.
Kaine had proposed the package in December, and a team of lawmakers had met weekly since the General Assembly adjourned six weeks ago to negotiate the list of 75 construction projects. The package passed unanimously out of both houses during Wednesday’s special session.
The package also includes $110 million to replace Western State Hospital, a state psychiatric facility, according to the AP. Another $82 million was allotted for mental health facilities, as legislators focused their attention on the state’s mental health infrastructure in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech mass shootings by a mentally disturbed student last April.
The bond package also provides more than $71 million to consolidate the state’s two schools for the deaf, blind and multi-disabled into one facility in Staunton that can accommodate 200 students, the AP reported.
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