HAMLET — Richmond Community College accepting bids for the expansion of the Hugh A. Lee and Lindsey-Petris buildings. Bids will be opened May 9.
The College held a pre-bid conference last week with potential bidders to give them a chance to tour the campus and get a “lay of the land,” said Executive Vice President and CFO Brent Barbee. The best case scenario, Barbee said, would be for the bids to be awarded in June and construction to begin in July. The project, which will be broken into phases, will take approximately 14 months to complete.
Barbee said renovations to the student services, career center and café area has been on the Board of Trustees’ minds for years, but they haven’t had the funds to do so. With the help from a bill signed by Gov. Pat McCrory for a $2 billion bond that funded higher education, parks and other infrastructure, the college was awarded $7.2 million for long-standing facility improvements and renovations.
“We’ve grown tremendously in the last nine years,” said Barbee. “(The project) came out of necessity, and the state bond will be able to help support what’s needed for the students directly.”
With the money, Barbee said they will be able to add just under 5,000 sq. ft. of new space with a modern kitchen to add to the lounge they currently have on campus. With the addition of a kitchen, students will be able to order hot meals including burgers and chicken sandwiches, as well as salads and other items.
Barbee said the new area would also look out onto the lake.
“Aesthetically, it will look nice,” he said.
Approximately 8,500 additional square feet will be added onto the Hugh A. Lee Building which Barbee predicts will be “natural draw” for new and prospective students.
“We direct them there (with the signs), but if you aren’t familiar with the campus, (the building) will stand out in the middle of the sidewalk,” he said. “With the new addition in the front, you will automatically start heading that way.”
In the new addition, students who want to speak with counselors and financial aid officers will have more privacy and space to do so, and students will have a space to work on their resumes and mock interviews, according to Barbee. There will also be staff on hand and tools at their disposal to help them on their “educational journey”, as well as a receptionist, Barbee said.
As far as the current building, Barbee said it will be converted into office space for faculty. He said a lot of faculty share offices and the college is at a point where they can’t grow and expand programs because there isn’t enough space.
With the addition of the new building, and the campus being built in downtown Rockingham, office space will be freed up and Barbee said they can look to see which programs they can expand on.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Barbee. “Our students are very excited and everyone is looking forward to expand a little and stretch our legs.”
