New Bartow campus to open in 2005
By Cassandra J. Watkins
[email protected]
Staff Writer
 Construction has begun on Georgia Highlands College's long awaited Bartow Campus.
According to Dr. Randy Pierce, president of Georgia Highlands College, the contract with Aviator Constructors grants 18 months for the completion of the project with the anticipated completion date Nov. 1, 2004.
This means that students can expect to use the new facility beginning January 2005.
The building site, located on Georgia Highway 120 across from the Wal-Mart shopping center in Cartersville, has sported a landscaped lot and completely paved parking lot for several months.
Speculations about state budget cuts and inadequate funding have given rise to rumors that the project has been in financial limbo. �Not true,� says Pierce. � The funds are in place as the bonds are already sold. Funding had nothing to do with the delay. The delay was simply because of getting the necessary approvals through the bureaucratic channels, dotting the I's and crossing the T's, you might say. We wanted to make sure everything was just right.�
The 18.2 million dollar project will be known as the Bartow Campus of Georgia Highlands College.
According to Pierce, no plans are in place at this time to change the name of the central campus or college to reflect the proximity of the new large addition in Bartow County. Pierce also said any change would have to be approved by the Board of Regents; if the college's name were changed in the future, the change would reflect the nature of its service mission to the demographic population of its students, not the campus size.
The Cartersville Campus, presently located on Gilmer Street in downtown Cartersville, serves approximately 700 students with only five classrooms. This situation calls for creative scheduling to accommodate students in the overburdened facility, according to Pierce. He added that the burgeoning growth of this area has created a demand that can only be supplied by the current expansion.
The new Bartow Campus is located on 50 plus acres and is designed to be completed in phases to accommodate the area's explosive growth. According to Pierce, the new facility will benefit students on all campuses because it will enable the college to accommodate the space needed to provide partnership programs with four-year colleges and universities.
Pierce says that Georgia Highlands College is continually assessing the needs of the students in the North Georgia area.
�Many students are geographically and economically bound to this area, making a four-year degree unobtainable. It is the mission of Georgia Highlands College to make the best possible education obtainable to all who desire one. We hope that this new expansion will help make this a reality for potential students who otherwise would lack access,� Pierce said. |
