Trident Technical College begins major expansion project

Trident Technical College has begun a two-year construction project on its main campus, launching the Phase Two expansion of the college’s complex for Industrial and Economic Development.

The $26.5 million project will transform a 177,000-square-foot area into a campus focal point, housing a culinary and hospitality training center, electro-mechanical skills laboratory and information technology center.

The college purchased the warehouse and two other buildings in 1994 from the Wetterau Co. and began a multiphase renovation project to create the complex. During Phase One, the college renovated 50,000 square feet, opening a Continuing Education Center and Center for Accelerated Training and Advanced Manufacturing Center in 1997.

“This is the most ambitious single project ever undertaken by this institution,” says TTC President Mary Thornley. “We are creating a new training ground for the region’s workforce with laboratories and numerous technology-intensive areas where students will train on industry-standard equipment. Phase Two will help meet the needs of our growing student body and the workforce demands of the region.”

Culinary Arts students will receive hands-on training in two teaching kitchens, two bakery kitchens, a banquet/catering kitchen and a full-service open production kitchen. Students will also receive instruction from chef instructors in a state-of-the-art amphitheater kitchen with multimedia and distance learning capabilities.

A 100-seat student-operated dining room will give students real-world experience in restaurant operations. In the Culinary and Hospitality Computer Lab, students will master a point-of-sale system used in the industry to manage kitchens and dining rooms.

The training center will feature a mock hotel suite, front desk reception area and housekeeping labs where Hospitality and Tourism Management students will learn the details of lodging management.

At the completion of the renovation, the college’s division of hospitality, tourism and culinary arts will move from current quarters on the Palmer Campus in downtown Charleston to the new complex.