PCC officials OK master plan for growth

WINTERVILLE — Pitt Community College has an updated blueprint for its growth.

The Board of Trustees during its regular meeting Tuesday approved a facility master plan that officials say will guide campus growth during the next 10 years. The plan's seven phases call for more than 382,000 square feet in construction, additions and renovations for the college, which continues to rank last among the state's 58 community colleges in space per student.

Angela Crawford of MBAJ Architecture presented the plan to the board. She said it was developed through a process of surveys, interviews, discussions with focus groups and demographic studies. The need for most of the facilities in the plan are immediate for PCC, Crawford said, noting the college already has a space deficit of about 259,000 square feet.

“These are all needs, and they are needs you have today,” Crawford told the board.

The projected cost of the plan is about $60.3 million. Its $11.8 million first phase includes a new 50,000-square foot academic classroom building and more than 8,000 square feet in renovations, Crawford said, while the second phase, priced at $14.1 million, includes a 56,000-square-foot science building, 11,400-square foot child development center and an addition to the Everett Building.

Crawford said the third phase of the plan recommends additions to the Goess Student Center and the Warren Building at a cost of $5.9 million.

The fourth, fifth and sixth phases each call for new construction. Those phases are projected to cost $9.6 million, $5.6 million and $13 million, respectively. The seventh phase would expand the college's public safety training facility.

The master plan also includes recommendations for parking, bicycling lanes and signage.

“This is a lot, but it is not out of line with our growth right now,” PCC President Dennis Massey said.

Massey said the college's rapid growth was reflected in the most recent enrollment figures. For the current semester, the college saw an increase of more than 10 percent of its full-time equivalent enrollment.

“We're maximizing opportunities we have, but we are eagerly anticipating more space which is why the master plan is so important,” Massey said.

The master plan approved Tuesday is the second such plan for the college in recent years. Officials in 2004 approved a similar plan that called for the construction of several facilities. Some of those projects such as the Herman Simon Health Sciences Building, a construction and industrial technology and maintenance compound and a general academic building are in the works.

“I was very impressed with the presentation and the plan,” board member Gary Evans said. “It was a valuable tool five years ago, and I think it will be a valuable tool moving forward.”

Board members noted during the meeting that none of the ongoing or proposed projects for the campus would be possible without the passing of a quarter-cent sales tax referendum in 2007.

That referendum calls for the proceeds to be used for construction needs of PCC and the Pitt County school system.

Contact Brock Letchworth at bletchworth@reflector.com or (252) 329-9574.