More pictures below!
Health care students and faculty at the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College shivered and cheered in the cold as dirt was turned by golden shovels on Wednesday afternoon, December 2, 2009.
Their huddle of scrubs was joined by officials, community leaders, legislators and others involved in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Samuel H. and Marian K. Barker Family Health Technology Building, scheduled to be completed in April 2011.
The state-of-the-art, 88,000-square-foot building will double the college’s capacity for training and job placement for the college’s 12 health care occupations’ programs.
The college serves about 600 health care students.
The first new instructional building on campus in 15 years will be built on the east portion of the campus at 200 N. Washington Blvd.
The prospects of doubling the number of students in the nursing program was exciting for faculty members Mary Lou Morales and Cindy Candland.
“It is very exciting to see,” said Morales, whose students have a 99 percent pass rate in the state licensing exam.
The Legislature awarded the college $21.9 million for the building during the 2009 session, partly in recognition of the $1 million in private funding raised by the OWATC Foundation for instructional equipment.
The building will be named in memory of Samuel H. and Marian K. Barker through the generosity of lead donors, the Samuel C. and Myra G. Powell Foundation.
Charles Barker, son of Samuel H. and Marian K. Barker and chair for the Samuel C. and Myra G. Powell Foundation, said the building will be his parents’ legacy.
“My father was committed to serving others and making their lives better. That is what this building is all about,” he said.
Other major donors include the Cross Charitable Foundation, the George S. and Delores Doré Eccles Foundation, the American Dream Foundation, McKay-Dee Hospital Foundation, Ogden Regional Medical Center and the Stewart Education Foundation. More than 50 donors have contributed to the equipment fund to date, including college faculty and staff.
“It will be wonderful to finally have a facility that will match the caliber of students and faculty we have on our campus,” said Jim Taggart, vice president for instructional services.
The design/build team of Okland Construction and GSBS Architects has been selected for the project, which will start in March 2010.
“This isn’t so much about a building, it’s about the students and the patients that will benefit from it,” said state Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City. “That is why we are doing this.”
Article by Trent Toone at the Standard Examiner
