St. Louis Community College broke ground on a new Center for Nursing and Health Sciences building on its Forest Park campus on Friday, March 23. It was a symbolic groundbreaking inside the physical education for a project the school has been working on for three years.
The new four-level facility will replace outdated existing health sciences labs and classroom space and will consist of a dental clinic, allied health, science labs and classrooms, building support and space for future innovation.
“We wanted to create a space that had state-of-the-art equipment that students can use, be trained and educated on so when they leave St. Louis Community College, they go right to the workplace and are performing on the same type of equipment,” said Jeff L. Pittman, chancellor of St. Louis Community College. Pittman said the center is a strategic response to needs of students who will enter the workforce as well as St. Louis healthcare employers.
“For students, the college is a pathway from secondary education to a four-year degree or a good-paying job,” Larry Johnson, provost of STLCC-Forest Park, said. “For our region, our employers, the college is a responsive pipeline to an educated and a skilled workforce. It has helped address the critical needs gaps that will occur in our area amongst our health employers.”
KAI Design and Build designed the facility and Tarlton Corporation is the construction manager for the project. The building will be 96,000 square feet and certified for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). It is expected to be up and running by the fall of 2019. The center will be the first new academic building on the Forest Park campus in 20 years.
