Superintendent: High School Career Center Project Running Smoothly

Aerial view of new career center construction project at ECHS.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Edmonson County High School's 11 million dollar Career Center project is running smoothly and on schedule, according to Superintendent of Schools Brian Alexander.

The project will basically change the entire back half of the entire school with a state-of-the-art nursing facility that will actually resemble areas of a hospital, and a new welding shop that will be like none the school has ever seen.

The new addition was made possible by $10 million in state funding that was specifically earmarked for this project-only.

"We wouldn't have this without the state funding coming through," said Mr. Alexander. "We are confident that the new construction and the upgrades we're making to our older portions will be a game changer for so many students."

A lift is used to move material to the top of the new ECHS Career Center.

The school has had the same welding and auto mechanic shops since the school was originally built in 1981. While the nursing program was added to the school's curriculum just a few years ago, it is currently being facilitated in an old home economics room. Other career courses like engineering and electrical pathway classes are also being held in standard classrooms.

The new construction will allow large square foot expansions for both the auto mechanic shop and the current welding shop, both by about 50%. The former welding shop will become the new shop for electrical and engineering classes. The auto shop will see a new office, classroom space, and a new vehicle lift, to name a few improvements besides the expanded size.

A portion of the new welding shop at ECHS.

Wide view of new welding shop at ECHS.

Alliance Corporation is in charge of the construction and Alexander said the process has gone extremely well up to this point.

"Alliance has a lot of Edmonson County people working for them and on this job and you can tell they have a lot of pride in their work. These guys are on it and they're doing a great job."

The job site supervisor is local resident Andrew Bolton.

"It also sure doesn't hurt to have a local guy like Andrew on the site everyday," Alexander added.

Edmonson County resident Andrew Bolton is serving as the job site supervisor for the project.

New nursing facility with classroom space on the right and hospital-style facilities on the left.

Callie Beliles, Director of Facilities and Safety for Edmonson County Schools, led us on a tour today of the new facilities as well as the old with descriptions of the improvements. 

Some of the project is expected to be done by this June but other parts like remodeling of the old shops will come later, due to the nature of the construction.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, earnings for those with bachelor degrees averaged around $55K per year with skilled trades averaging about the same; however, the cost to attend two-year trade schools are normally much less than a four-year college or university. ECHS offers programs that allow students to gain both college and trade school credits while attending high school. The new facilities will play a crucial part those programs.

Among the new hands-on areas of the new project, will also be administrative areas, office space, storage, and classroom space.

ECHS hosted Governor Andy Beshear in February of last year, who made the announcement of the $10 million award for the facility.