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Fairmont technology center well under way

Times West Virginian photo by Chelsi Baker Pierpont’s vice president for workforce development Paul Schreffler (left) speaks with Blaine McVicker, clerk of the works for the Higher Education Policy Commission, at the construction site of the future North Central Advanced Technology Center.
Times West Virginian photo by Chelsi Baker
Pierpont’s vice president for workforce development Paul Schreffler (left) speaks with Blaine McVicker, clerk of the works for the Higher Education Policy Commission, at the construction site of the future North Central Advanced Technology Center.

FAIRMONT — Members of an advisory board put on their hard hats and toured the construction site of Pierpont Community & Technical College’s future North Central Advanced Technology Center at the I-79 Technology Park.

Members were able to see the building’s progression up to this point and get an idea of what the finished product will look like.

“The project is going very well,” said Blaine McVicker, clerk of the works for the Higher Education Policy Commission. “We’re running right now between 20 and 25 personnel on site. So far, the steel has gone up very well. The concrete’s going in the ground very well. We’ve had a few small challenges, but we got through those very quickly, and I think the project is running very smoothly.”

The project is run by Nello, a general contractor out of Washington, Pennsylvania, and it operates on an $18 million budget.

Construction began on the 58,000-square-foot, three-story facility in October.

The frigid winter months and spring rain slowed the project some, but McVicker told the advisory board that construction should be finished in time for the facility to open in fall 2015.

“It’s a very beautiful building, so we’re very proud of it so far,” he said.

The building has several radius walls in its layout, which is architecturally very unique, McVicker said.

There will also be many windows that will bring in natural light and a view of the trees and hills below.

“I think the community didn’t know if the building actually would occur, and now to see it going up again is really a beacon of hope up there on the hillside. (Workers) have done an outstanding job,” said Pierpont’s president, Doreen Larson. “The building will be everything they’ve expected and more.”

The project is part of a statewide initiative that has already helped build a similar technology center in the southern part of the state…

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